The Khonsa Battalion of Assam Rifles and Longding district police in Arunachal Pradesh arrested three operatives of the Yung Aung faction of the NSCN(K) over the past two days and seized drugs and cash from them, sources said.
The three were arrested from Wakka and Khanu villages near the Indo-Myanmar border during the joint operation on June 17 and 18, the sources said, adding heroin-based narcotic substance worth Rs 7 lakh was found on them.
The operation was launched based on an input regarding presence of suspected NSCN-K (YA) operatives near Wakka town.
The cadres have been identified as Pongyai Wangsa (27), Manthak Sankhoi and Samong Gangsa.
A case has been registered and the trio was handed over to district police for interrogation, the sources added.
It is speculated that drug trade is part of a larger narco-terror racket that is fuelling the fledgling insurgency in the region.
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