In 1991, General Khaing Raza formed Arakan Army with a view to making Arakan an independent state for the people of Rakhaine. To materialise his dream he formed a group of 60 people with the help of fighters of the Karens and went to his motherland Arakan.

After the formation of Arakan Army Khaing Raza established a good relationship with officers from the Research and Analysis Wing-RAW, India’s foreign intelligence agency. He regularly shared information with them.

This relationship improved further and RAW officers eventually introduced Khaing Raza to a number of Indian military commanders and intelligence officers. Among them the top one was Lt. Col. Biswajit Singh Grewal.

He was born and brought up in Myanmar and studied at the University of Mandalay. He was fluent in the Burmese language who even had a Burmese name, Nay Win.

General Khaing Raza and his fellows dreamed of an independent Arakan. Picking their dream as the core point, in 1997, Lt. Col. Biswajit Singh Grewal assured the Arakan Army and the leaders of Karen National Union that they would get safe shelter in the Landfall Island of India in the Andaman Sea.

But they were quite unaware that India would become one of the bars towards their independence.

Staying in the midst of ignorance and relying on the assurance of Biswajit Singh Grewal, General Khaing Raza and a number of his followers went to the Landfall Island on 10th of February in 1998.

But the following day they realised that they were betrayed as the Indian military launched a brutal operation codenamed Leech on the morning of that day.

They raided Landfall Island in the Andaman Sea arresting at least 73 and killing at least six including the Arakan Army General Khaing Raza and Major Soe Tun and two leaders of the Karen National Union.

India portrayed this operation as demolishing of weapons smuggling though it was a barbarous betrayal instructed by the Myanmar Army.