Manipur convoy ambush: Home Ministry decides to ban NSCN (K)

NEW DELHI: The Home Ministry has decided to ban Naga insurgent outfit NSCN(K), which was behind the dastardly attack on an Indian Army convoy in Manipur’s Chandel district on June 4, killing 18 soldiers.

The ministry of home affairs (MHA) moved a cabinet note on June 10 to put NSCN(K)—a breakaway fraction of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-—back in the list of banned terror organisations as the ceasefire with the outfit collapsed in April. The decision will soon be approved by the Cabinet.

“The outfit was in the banned list before a ceasefire was done in 2001. It was subsequently removed from the list. Now, with the ceasefire collapsing and the major attack on the Indian Army on June 4 by NSCN(K) and its affiliates, a decision has been taken to put NSCN(K) back in the banned organisations list,” an MHA official told ET.

The home ministry has prepared a list of violent acts carried out by NSCN(K) lately, which will be part of the cabinet note as justification for putting the ban on the outfit led by SS Khaplang.

There are 38 terror organisations presently in the list of banned terror outfits.

Meanwhile, national security advisor Ajit Doval will visit Myanmar on June 17 where he is expected to meet top leaders including President U Thein Sein.

Several Indian insurgent groups have set up bases in northern Myanmar to carry out attacks on India. And, following the Manipur attack, Indian Army has been carrying out surgical attacks on such camps. Doval will carry evidence to suggest NSCN(K) involvement in last week’s attack on Indian Army and will discuss possibility of further joint action against the insurgents on the Indo-Myanmar border. According to media reports, Khaplang is currently undergoing treatment in a hospital in Yangon.