Paresh 'sacks' Rajkhowa, seizes Ulfa

GUWAHATI: Ulfa military chief Paresh Baruah has taken absolute control of the outfit by sacking all his comrades currently holding peace talks with the Centre.

Many likened Baruah's action to the way his idol, Velupillai Prabhakaran, ran the LTTE as its supreme leader for decades. The Ulfa hardliner, who is holed up in Myanmar, has disbanded the outfit's political wing led by his longtime friend, Arabinda Rajkhowa. After they were caught and deported from Bangladesh about two years ago, Rajkhowa, who is the chairman of Ulfa, and other top leaders began peace negotiations with the Centre.

A top lieutenant of Baruah told TOI, "From now on, there'll be no political wing. Ulfa will be a purely military- controlled outfit under the leadership of Paresh Baruah." He added, "A central command headquarters under Paresh Baruah has been set up."

This comes days after Paresh declared that he would disqualify all members, including Rajkhowa, who have given up the outfit's primary demand for a sovereign nation of Assam. In September, the pro-talks leaders had dropped the demand for a sovereign country while submitting a charter of demands to the Centre.

Paresh's lieutenant claimed that his leader had planned organizational restructuring while he was hiding in Bangladesh, much before Rajkhowa and four other senior leaders were caught there in 2009. In the new set-up, Jibon Moran, who is in-charge of Ulfa's base in Myanmar, will be Paresh's No 2. He replaces Raju Baruah, a key member of the Rajkhowa group, as the outfit's deputy commander.

Paresh has designated Bijoy "Chinese" Das, commander of Ulfa's 28th battalion, as "army commander." Nayan Medhi, commander of the 27th battalion, will work as Bejoy's deputy. Physicist Pranmoy Asom, a new recruit, will be the outifit's "foreign secretary" in place of Sasadhar Choudhury, who is now with Rajkhowa.

Drishti Rajkhowa, commandant of the 109th battalion, will take charge as "finance secretary" replacing Chitrabon Hazarika, now a key pro-talks leader. Arunadoy Dohotiya has replaced Mithinga Daimary, as "central publicity secretary," while Partha Gogoi will be "cultural secretary" in place of Pranati Deka. Michale Dekaphukan, a Myanmar-based leader, has been appointed "organization secretary", which is a new post.

Earlier, Paresh restructured his battalions as 1st battalion in Bangladesh, 2nd battalion in Myanmar and 3rd battalion in Majuli They were named Lakhimi, Rongili and Kopili.

Since its inception, Ulfa has been divided into political and military wings headed by Rajkhowa and Paresh respectively. The political section has the maximum representation in the central executive committee that controls the organization's policies. Paresh reported to the chairman.