They came out with guns in hand — and handed them over.
In a significant counter-insurgency breakthrough, four cadres of the banned militant outfit ULFA (Independent) surrendered before the 44 Assam Rifles and Longding Police at Wakka in Arunachal Pradesh’s Longding district on Thursday. The men walked in, laid down their weapons, and gave security forces one of the more telling wins in the region this year.
The Men Behind the Surrender
The four surrendered cadres have been identified as SS LC Ajay Asom, aged 33; SS LC Biplob Asom, aged 31; SS LC Monei Asom, aged 28; and SS Pvt Bolin Asom, aged 22. The youngest is barely in his early twenties. That fact alone says something about how these outfits recruit — and perhaps why some of these men eventually decide they’ve had enough. All four carry the surname “Asom,” a common practice among ULFA cadres who adopt it as part of their militant identity.
Weapons Recovered, Hands Raised
During the surrender, security forces recovered four pistols and 17 live rounds of ammunition from the cadres. Four pistols for four men — they weren’t just low-level foot soldiers bluffing their way through jungle trails. The recovery of live ammunition alongside the weapons suggests these were active operatives, not inactive fringe members. Security forces have confirmed that further investigation is currently underway.
What This Means on the Ground
Longding district sits in the far southeastern corner of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering Myanmar — terrain that has historically offered militant outfits convenient cover and movement corridors. A surrender of this nature, right in that zone, carries weight beyond just the numbers. The development is considered significant in the context of ongoing counter-insurgency efforts in the region. The 44 Assam Rifles, which operates extensively across this belt, has been a central pillar of those efforts for years. Longding Police’s involvement also points to the kind of civil-military coordination that these operations increasingly rely on.
A Shift in the Wind?
ULFA (Independent), led by Paresh Baruah, has long refused to enter peace talks with the Indian government — unlike the pro-talks faction of ULFA which signed a peace accord in 2023. Surrenders like this one don’t dismantle an organization overnight, but they chip away at it. Every cadre who comes out is one less pair of hands carrying a weapon in those hills.
Four men walked out of the jungle in Longding today. Whatever brought them to that decision — fatigue, disillusionment, or simply the weight of years spent underground — their surrender is a reminder that even the most entrenched insurgencies are not immune to quiet, individual moments of reckoning.
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