Chetia ‘keen’ to return to India

R Dutta choudhury

GUWAHATI, April 30 – The general secretary of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), Anup Chetia has been expressing his “keenness” to come back to India and contacted different persons to take steps to facilitate his return.

Meanwhile, despite facing its worst ever crisis, the ULFA (Independent) managed to recruit some youths from the districts located in the north bank of the river Brahmaputra in recent times.

Highly placed security sources told The Assam Tribune that Chetia, who is in protective custody of the Government of Bangladesh after serving his jail term in that country, has been contacting some of the senior leaders of the pro-talk faction of the ULFA asking them to put pressure on the Government to do the needful for ensuring his return.

However, as the Government is in election mode, there is hardly any time for anyone to think about taking steps for ensuring Chetia’s return. Moreover, it remains to be seen what kind of attitude the new Government adopts on bringing Chetia back to involve him in the peace process.

Meanwhile, on the activities of the ULFA(I), sources pointed out that for the first time in more than two decades, the outfit did not have any impact on the elections in Assam and the outfit is facing its worst ever crisis as only a handful of hardcore members are now inside Assam.

However, despite the crisis, the outfit managed to recruit some youths from parts of the state, including the districts of Dhemaji, Darrang and Sonitpur, and efforts are on to send them to the camps in Myanmar. Interestingly, the outfit has not been able to make fresh recruitments from the upper and lower Assam districts, once considered to be the strongholds of the ULFA, sources added.

Sources said that according to information gathered by the security agencies, the ULFA(I) is facing severe shortage of funds and the outfit is finding it tough even to manage the camps in Myanmar. The ULFA(I) now has at least four camps in the Taga area of Myanmar and senior leaders like Jiban Moran and Michaek Deka Phukan are managing the camps.

However, the outfit has not been able to send newly trained boys to Assam from the camps in the neighbouring country and a handful of hardcore members are sitting in Mon district of Nagaland.

The commander-in-chief of the ULFA(I), Paresh Baruah is also keeping a low profile and he called up a number of persons in Assam during the Rongali Bihu festival. Baruah, who is in Ruili area in Myanmar-China border, has not visited the camps in Taga months, but is showing keenness as regards the electoral prospects of Naba Kumar Sarania (Hira), a former ULFA man, who has contested the Lok Sabha polls as an Independent candidate from the Kokrajhar constituency.

On the other hand, another hardcore ULFA(I) member, Drishti Rajkhowa, according to reports available with the security forces, shifted to the Sherpur area of Bangladesh from the Garo Hills of Meghalaya, where he was staying with the GNLA militants. He is also keeping a low profile after several consignments of weapons that he had arranged for the GNLA, were recovered by the police and security forces.