The NDFB-IKS is the only faction of the NDFB that has refused to sit for talks with the Government and has emerged as the most lethal outfit in the State. In 2014 alone, prior to the latest attacks in May, it had already killed 12 civilians and one SF trooper. 11 militants of the outfit have also been killed during the year. The NDFB-IKS' split was announced on November 20, 2012, by the then NDFB-RD’s Myanmar based, ‘army chief’ I.K. Songbijit, who, vowed to “work and fight together with vigour and determination to liberate Boroland” and “Western South East Asia (North-East India)”. Meanwhile, on November 29, 2013, the Central and Assam State Governments had signed a six months long tripartite Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with NDFB-RD, at the Headquarters of the Special Branch (SB) of Assam Police at Kahilipara.
A March 17, 2014, report observed that, according to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) the NDFB had killed at least 70 people in Assam through 2010-14. In January 2014, State Police Headquarters declared 15 members of the NDFB-IKS, including its chief Songbijit Ingti Kathar on November 29, 2013, 'most wanted'. Assam Police said valuable information leading to the arrest of these 15 NDFB-IKS militants would be worth INR 9.5 million.
In the most recent incident by the outfit prior to the May 2014 attacks, two persons were shot dead by suspected NDFB-IKS cadres in pre-poll violence in Kokrajhar district on April 23, a day before the Lok Sabha polls. Heavily armed militants attacked them at Bhogjhra village and shot them at point-blank range. Earlier, on January 17, 2014, at least six persons were killed when suspected NDFB-IKS militants pulled down about a dozen persons from a bus and opened fire at them at Serfanguri in Kokrajhar district. An Assam Police official said the bus was on its way from Siliguri in West Bengal to Shillong in Meghalaya, when a group of armed militants intercepted it on National Highway-31 at Athiabari under Serfanguri Police Station.
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n a typical response, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had condemned the May attacks as a "cowardly act", and union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde promised to send 10 additional companies of Central Paramilitary Forces (CPMFs) sought by the state government. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also condemned the attacks as "cowardly attempts to spread fear and terror among our citizens" and added that the centre would take all measures to maintain law and order and restore peace. Assam Chief Minister Gogoi demanded an National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the attacks, and this has been approved. An NIA team will reach Assam on May 5 investigate the attacks. None of these high officials has, however, chosen to speak of the failure, not only to act proactively on the prior intelligence that was available, but also the comprehensive failure to act on commitments made over the years to resolve the issue that were contributing to unending cycles of violence.
During the 2012 violence between the Bodos and Muslims, for instance, Chief Minister Gogoi had declared that the state government was 'on a mission' to throw out every single illegal migrant from the state, and appealed to people to help the government in detecting them. The Bodos had then termed the 2012 incident as a clash with illegal migrants and not Indian Muslims.