Operation Leech — A Sting Operation in the Jungle

 

Year: February 8, 1998

India's Northeast has always been a hotbed of insurgency, and in the 1990s, RAW discovered something alarming: the very rebel groups they were cultivating in Myanmar had turned against India.

During the 1990s, RAW cultivated Burmese rebel groups and pro-democracy coalitions, especially the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). India had allowed them to trade precious stones on Indian territory — a goodwill gesture. 

But KIA started training and supplying weapons to northeastern Indian rebel groups. When RAW came to know about this, it initiated Operation Leech — they shot 6 rebel leaders and arrested 34 Arakanese guerrillas in a sting operation at Andaman's Landfall Island. 

RAW, along with the Indian Navy's MARCOS, lured the smugglers into a trap under the guise of an arms deal. The smugglers were neutralized, and entire arms caches were seized. This weakened insurgency in India's Northeast. 

RAW had trusted a group, realized the betrayal, and eliminated the threat — all in one surgical move.