Around 1000 Bru militants will surrender arms and return to the mainstream at a formal ceremony at Hailakandi district in Assam on December 12, police said on Thursday.

Members of the United Democratic Liberation Front of Barak Valley (UDLFBV) and Bru Revolutionary Army of Union (BRAU), who are currently on a ceasefire, will formally lay down their arms at Katlicherra, 28 km from here along the state border with Mizoram, Hailakandi Superintendent of Police Nabaneet Mahanta said as reported by PTI.

The programme will be attended by Assam Assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary and Water Resources and Parliamentary Affairs minister Pijush Hazarika.

The Superintendents of Police of Hailakandi, Cachar and Karimganj districts have been asked to display the arms during the formal ceremony.

The Centre, the state governments of Mizoram and Tripura and the Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF) had signed an agreement in 2018 for the repatriation of Bru families and had initiated negotiations with the outfits to return to the mainstream, the report added.

Both the militant outfits were active in the 90s along the Assam-Mizoram border areas, particularly in Hailakandi district, and were alleged to be involved in the killing of BJP leader Pratul Deb, who had returned to India from London after retirement, along with cases of extortion, kidnappings and other unlawful activities, the police said.