Guwahati: Days after the DHD (J) militants were assigned to massacre all Nagas inhabiting North Cachar Hills district in Assam, the outfit's Commander-in-Chief Jewel Garlosa has been arrested and is being held at an undisclosed location in southern India.
Frankey Dimasa, another frontline leader of the outfit, was killed in an encounter in Guwahati on Wednesday evening.
The DHD (J) has emerged as one of the most active militant outfits in the country. The group has acquired long-range and sophisticated weapons and their monetary collection far exceeds that of ULFA and NDFB.
Violence meanwhile continued unabated in the North Cachar Hills district as heavily armed DHD(J) militants gunned down five people in a pre-dawn swoop on a Zeme Naga village in southern Assam. The militants set ablaze 54 houses in the village.
Since March, DHD (J) militants, who want a separate state for Dimasas, have launched violent attacks on several other tribes which inhabit the district. The attacks, more recently, have been directed towards Zeme Nagas, who constitute 11 per cent of the district's population dominated by the Dimasas.
The army and paramilitary forces have joined hands with the state police to launch a joint operation against the militant outfits, particularly the DHD (J). The full-blown ethnic conflict since February, 2009 has claimed the lives of more than 30 people; burnt down many villages and displaced hundreds of villagers.