Hidden in the dense undergrowth of Motihjora in Kokrajhar district, a cache of weapons sat quietly — the forgotten arsenal of a militant group the state of Assam has spent years dismantling. On Saturday, 24 October 2026, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that Kokrajhar Police, acting on specific intelligence, had launched an operation into those jungles and recovered arms and ammunition left behind by the NSLA.

What the Motihjora jungle was hiding

The operation targeted thick forested terrain in Motihjora, part of the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) in western Assam — a geography that has long provided cover for militant activity. Intelligence-led operations of this kind are designed precisely for such terrain: ground forces move in with advance information rather than mounting broad sweeps, reducing risk and increasing precision. The recovered weapons represent what security officials call 'legacy infrastructure' — stockpiles left behind as outfits splintered or surrendered, but never destroyed, posing a latent threat to civilian life.

The long shadow of NSLA in BTR

The NSLA (National Santhal Liberation Army) is among the smaller armed outfits that operated in the northeastern frontier, distinct from the more prominent NDFB factions whose surrender was formalised under the landmark 2020 Bodo Peace Accord. That accord reorganised the Bodoland Territorial Region and prompted the disarmament of several insurgent factions — but residual weapons caches scattered across remote jungle areas remained a persistent security challenge. Saturday's recovery is a direct consequence of that unfinished disarmament geography.

Assam's sustained push against residual militancy

Assam Police has pursued a sustained counter-insurgency campaign across the post-accord period, combining targeted operations with rehabilitation programmes for surrendered cadres. The BTR and its adjoining districts have remained a focal zone, given their history of ethnic conflict and the density of armed groups that once operated there. Each arms recovery — however unglamorous compared to an encounter or a surrender — closes off a supply line that could otherwise fuel fresh violence. CM Sarma has consistently framed this effort as non-negotiable: peace in the Northeast is only as durable as the weapons still buried in its jungles.

With follow-up operations likely across BTR's remaining forest corridors, Saturday's find signals that Assam's intelligence network in the region is active — and that the hunt for militancy's last physical traces is far from over.