Brigadier Digvijay Singh, Commander 23 Sector, Assam Rifles.
Mizoram which shares a long porous border with Myanmar has also seen a major increase in the influx of Myanmar nationals crossing the border since the coup drug traffickings and other materials. Brig. Sector 23 Commander Digvijay Singh Assam Rifles discussed the ground situation in a telephonic conversation with Dinkar Perry,
In your assessment, how has the instability in Myanmar affected Mizoram?
Mizoram shares a 510 km long border and ethnic ties with the people of Chin State in Myanmar. Since the coup in Myanmar in February 2021, there has been an influx of illegal immigrants from Myanmar and is increasing continuously. With the Free Movement Regime (FMR) clause also in force in Mizoram, it is difficult to track these illegal immigrants, but the Assam Rifles maintains a record of all those coming to and from Myanmar. The figures of the state government and Assam Rifles do not match as many illegal immigrants have returned to their country. But still a considerable number are living in Mizoram. Due to illegal immigrants, the pressure on the state has increased tremendously with various NGOs/CSOs coming forward to help the displaced Myanmarese. But it’s been over a year and the situation in Myanmar is still volatile. This volatility has worked in our favor as well.
There have been some record seizures recently, can you give an overview.
We have done many big operations this year with recovery up to ₹167 crore. The seizures were mainly of methamphetamine tablets which is a growing new trend as it involves easy money as the manufacturing cost is ₹5-10 while the market price in major cities is around ₹3000. The increase in recoveries can be attributed to the instability in Myanmar and the number of armed groups engaging in smuggling activities to maintain their operations against the Myanmar military. If you look at the pattern of drug trafficking, it shows a sharp increase after the coup and a fourfold increase in the year 2022 compared to the previous year. It can be said that the pattern has a steady uptrend till 2019 and a rapid uptrend thereafter.
What do you have to say about the huge recovery of Narcotics / War Like Stores (WLS) made by Assam Rifles and other agencies?
The seizures reflect an increasing trend in the flow of narcotics, which has seen a sudden increase in the past two months. heavy recovery of meth tablets, This could be a result of an increase in demand or the easy money that comes with it. So far we have arrested 31 Myanmar nationals involved in illegal activities. It is quite convenient for Myanmarese to get involved in this racket because of the disturbances and uncertainty in their homeland and because of the easy access to both the countries and the easy bulk money that comes with it. As far as WLS is concerned, the local resistance forces in Myanmar require WLS and tactical stores for their operations against the Myanmar Army, and being sympathetic on our side, arranging stores from Mizoram for them is comparable. relatively easy. But Assam Rifles has been alert and we have made huge recovery in case of WLS, Tactical stores. Though Mizoram is a peaceful state, but with so much movement of narcotics and WLS, the possibility of any untoward incident cannot be ruled out.
With relatively calm conditions, what are the biggest challenges you are facing on the ground?
23 Sector Assam Rifles is responsible for the security and management of 510 km of the India-Myanmar Border (IMB) out of a total of 1,643 km. The IMB is porous, the major portion is riverine and has rugged terrain with a large number of no-go areas. The exclusive provision of FMR with ethnic affiliation makes the dynamics of IMB unique as well as challenging. Limited availability of troops, Proximity to the Golden Triangle, FMR, Unstable Myanmar (illegal immigrants), Armed conflict along the international border with both Myanmar and Bangladesh, Border issue between Mizoram and Assam, Transit point of Indian insurgent groups and most of the narcotics Illegal smuggling and contraband makes the security situation in Mizoram very dynamic.
In the last few months, there has been a huge seizure of narcotics in Aizawl. Your thoughts on this?
Being at the center of Mizoram, all goods including contraband and narcotics pass through Aizawl. Our battalion at Aizawl is playing a major role in the operations and is a major deterrent to all hostile activities. In the last few months, we have seized narcotics worth more than ₹100 crore and all out efforts are being made to keep the city free from all illegal activities.