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Assam : More ULFA cadres to surrender |
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Boosted by the recent surrenders by some big and dreaded activists of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), the security agencies that have been pursuing the banned organisa¬tion for over 17 years are now hoping that more big fish would come overground in the near future. One of the security strate¬gists went to the extent of saying that the catch of Prabal Neog was nothing but a ‘surrender’ and the drama of ‘apprehension’ was staged only to save the faces of all concerned parties.
Security forces, especially the Army, operating in the Upper Assam districts including some of the adjacent districts of Arunachal Pradesh, claimed to have killed 48 and apprehended 98 cadres of ULFA in the last one year.
In addition to these, the Army claims to have apprehended 371 overground activists who, according to them, have either assisted the banned outfit by carrying out minor jobs including supply of information about movements of security forces in a particular area on a given day. But according to Army sources, it is the surrenders that are being given more importance for neu¬tralising the outfit. Those who have surrendered include some big shots like Pranjal Saikia and Ujjal Gohain.
Security forces claim that the surrenders by ULFA activists have sent more than expected signals to the ranks and file of the outfit. According to them, a big surprise is waiting to happen in the near future. According to a source, a group of six ULFA cadres has already surrendered before the Army and the formality in this regard was supposed to take place on October 26 but as in the meantime some more cadres including an important one, con¬tacted the Army, the surrender ceremony had to be postponed till October 29.
As many as 33 militants, 31 of them from ULFA, surrendered at Tamulpur in Baksa district on Oct. 23, The leader of the group, Nagen Rabha, said he and his comrades decided to “return to the mainstream” because the ULFA leadership “does not care for lower-level cadre”.
Passenger bus torched, 50 burnt
A bus with at least 50 people on board was set ablaze in Assam’s Dhubri district shortly after midnight last weekend. The arson carried out on Oct. 27 night is suspected to be the handi¬work of a students’ union that has imposed a blockade on National Highway 31 (C) for the past 10 days.
While 22 passengers suffered burn injuries, three of them are reported critical. The bus, with 48 passengers on board, was attacked at Nandipara Tiniali under Golokganj police station of Dhubri district.
The arsonists beat up the staff and passengers and then jammed the bus doors from outside before setting the vehicle ablaze. They also hurled a crude petrol bomb to force the driver to stop the bus on the highway.
The needle of suspicion pointed to the Biswajit faction of the All Koch Rajbongshi Students Union (AKRSU), which has imposed a 300-hour-long national highway blockade from October 17 to 29. The union is demanding a separate Kamtapur state and inclusion of the Koch Rajbongshis in the list of Scheduled Tribes.
Officer-in-charge of Golokganj police station, Kamal Chandra Sil, said the Assam State Transport Corporation bus ignored a police signal to wait at Chagolia checkgate and proceeded unes¬corted. “The bus, which left Cooch Behar for North Lakhimpur via Guwahati around 9.30 pm did not wait for the police escort to arrive at Chagolia,” he said.
Dhubri Superintendent of Police Partho Sarothi Mahapatro said they have already arrested 14 Akrsu activists and are looking for others.
North East’s first woman scribe dies
The first woman journalist of the North East, Kalpana Barua-Gupta (83), passed away on Oct. 24 at her residence in Shillong. Barua Gupta worked for two national newspapers - Hindustan Stan¬dard and Ananda Bazar Patrika - published from Kolkata.
Born on June 8, 1924, Barua-Gupta was related to two of Assam’s eminent personalities, former Chief Minister Bimala Prasad Chaliha and freedom fighter Prafulla Chandra Barua. She married Hemanta Kumar Gupta, a journalist and freedom fighter, in November 1948. She was awarded the Tamra Patra in 1972 for her dedication to and work for India’s freedom.
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