The house of a Bodo villager set ablaze by tribals in Assam's Balidaga, in retaliation to the attacks by the NDFB (S). (Press Trust of India)
Tall, portly with a head of salt and pepper hair, the veteran intelligence official could not really concentrate on the lecture at the security meet in Delhi. Around noon, his boys in Assam had picked up a radio message from Bideo, the commander of the banned National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) army.
They heard him order his cadres to "kill as many non-Bodos as possible" in Kokrajhar and Sonitpur, he told NDTV. (Read:
Bodo Attack in Assam: 10 Developments)
The official knew the intercept had to be acted upon. For a week, his desk had been getting inputs about a possible attack. There was too much activity, too much radio chatter among the Bodo militant cadres.
As his team processed the facts, the Assam Police reported a similar message they intercepted - from the second-in-command of NDFB, Botha.
It was time to act. A flurry of messages was sent out - to the police and the army and the intelligence agencies - directing everyone to put as many men on the ground as possible.
But would the troops reach the inaccessible areas in time? As the lecture went on, he agonized over that. Within two hours, the first news of attacks came. Forces had moved, but hadn't been able to reach the far-flung villages along the Arunachal Pradesh-Assam border.
By late night, over 40 tribal women and children were dead in Sonitpur's Biswanath Charali. In Kokrajhar, another 20-odd people were dead.
More deaths were reported this morning. At Dhekiajuli police station, where the police opened fire on protesting tribals, five men died. In Chirang district, tribals killed three Bodos in retaliatory strikes.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh rushed to Guwahati with a clear message that the attacks were an act of terror. There can be no talks with the NDFB(S) even if they sue for peace at a later date. The Army and Paramilitary has been asked to go after the militants in all earnestness.
In its initial analysis, security forces told the government that the killings were carried out for two reasons.
One: Over the last few months, the NDFB(S) had lost about 40 cadres. Almost all its arms and ammunition were seized. The rebel group blames the tribals for losses, believing they help the security forces.
This is partly true. Almost abandoned by the administration and increasingly targeted by militants, they depend on the forces for protection. In some cases, they even helped them track down militants.
Two: Some newly trained and armed cadres of the NDFB(S) have crossed over from their training camps Myanmar.
"They want to show that they are still a force and has the ability to fight," a senior intelligence official told NDTV.