A commission of inquiry set up by the Assam government has found that both the Congress and BJP approached the Jewel Garlosa-led Dima Halam Daogah ? or Black Widow ? militant group for help during the December 2007 North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council elections.
The DHD (J) backed the BJP-Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) alliance, which swept the polls.
The Black Widow group ? responsible for killings, abductions and extortion, and targeted attacks on railway property, government officials and businessmen ?was outlawed by the Centre under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on July 2.
Its leader, Garlosa, was arrested along with his deputy Partha Warisa in Bangalore on June 3.
The National Investigation Agency is currently probing the alleged nexus between the DHD(J) and political parties in the strife-torn North Cachar Hills district.
The report of the inquiry commission headed by former Supreme Court Justice RK Manisena Singh, was placed in the Assam Assembly on Tuesday.
?It has been concluded that there was a collusion of the DHD(J) militants with members of the Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) and also with the BJP, which alliance led the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council under the leadership of the ASDC,? the report says.
On page 26 of the 48-page report, there is a reference to a confessional statement of a DHD(J) militant: ?From the above statement of Subrata Thousen, it follows that the Congress(I) as well as ASDC and BJP alliance approached DHD(J) for supporting their respective candidates. Ultimately, the DHD(J) group supported the ASDC-BJP alliance in the last Council election held in December 2007 instead of the Congress(I).?
The report says the leader of the ASDC-BJP alliance paid Rs 2 crore to the leaders of the DHD(J), and refers to allegations that a senior Congress leader paid militants Rs 8 crore.
On pages 9 and 10, the report refers to the deposition of Kalijoy Sengyung, vice-president of the ASDC, who said the DHD had ?openly supported? Congress candidate GC Langthasa in the assembly polls of 2001. However, according to Sengyung, on June 4, 2007, Langthasa?s son and nephew, Purnendu Langthasa and Lindu Langthasa, were killed when they went to deliver Rs 8 crore to militants.
Congress party and Assam government spokesman Himanta Biswa Sarma denied a nexus with the DHD(J). ?The very fact that the Congress has lost five to six important leaders including Purnendu Langthasa at the hands of the DHD(J) in the past two and a half years is enough to prove that there is no nexus between the two.?
The BJP blamed the Congress for the birth of militancy in North Cachar Hills district. ?I am told that the inquiry commission report mentions Congress leader GC Langthasa as being responsible for the birth of the Dimasa National Security Force, a precursor to Black Widow. It also speaks about a senior Congress leader having been killed while going to hand over a huge sum of money to the militants,? said Bijoya Chakravarty, BJP national vice-president and Guwahati Lok Sabha MP.