ULFA targets Bhutan King
Within hours of Bhutanese PM’s address at the SAARC, the outfit alleges that the King used to pay annual visits to the camps.

HOW far ‘Operation All Clear’ has affected ULFA, NDFB and KLO can be judged from the fact that all the organisations are now sending contradictory signals to ascertain their presence. It started with ULFA. On one hand, the organisation sent a revised proposal to start dialogue with the Centre and on the other hand it appealed to the Chinese Government for safe passage to its cadres. The outlawed organisation’s 78-year-old political advisor Bhimkanta Buragohain continues evade the question whether he had surrendered before the Indian Army or was arrested.

Beyond doubt, the crackdown by the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) inflicted heavy loss to ULFA and NDFB. After ‘Operation All Clear’ more and more cadres of the outfits are either being arrested or surrendering before the security forces. According to the police, more than 170 ULFA cadres were either surrendered or were arrested since the RBA crackdown began on December 15. 27 children of the ULFA cadres have been handed over to the State administration by the RBA. Moreover, 18 NDFB cadres have also been arrested. Prominent among the ULFA members in the net are Bhimkanta Buragohain alias Mama, and publicity secretary Mithinga Daimari alias Dipak Das. The insurgent outfits suffered heavy loss as far as fire power is concerned. The RBA recovered 51 AK-47 rifles, 50 AK-56 rifles, six pistols, seven UMGs, 12 wireless sets, 42 hand grenades, two sniper rifles, two RPG launchers, 13 RPGs, more than 9600 rounds of ammunition, five mines, 70 plastic explosives. Cash amounting to more than Rs 4.10 lakh was also recovered from the ultras.  To gain sympathy from outside world the ULFA recently made the allegation that the Royal Bhutan Government was fully aware of the presence of training camps on its soil and the King used to pay annual visits to these camps.

ULFA timed this allegation to perfection. The ULFA statement was issued within hours of Bhutanese Prime Minister Lyonpo Jigme Thinley’s address at the SAARC. In the said statement, ULFA Chairman Aurbindo Rajkhowa alleged that the Bhutan Premier was not saying the truth before the SAARC gathering. He alleged that the Bhutan Government was completely aware of their entry into the country and that the King used to pay annual visit to the camps. Earlier, addressing the 12th SAARC summit, Mr. Thinley said three insurgent groups from the North-Eastern region of India — ULFA, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) — had been given sufficient time to cease their anti-India activities before action was taken against them in December.The Bhutan Premier said the groups threatened to create misunderstanding and undermine its “excellent relations’’ with India. They had set up camps at strategic locations all along the Bhutan-India border, which were used to train insurgents, store arms and ammunition and to launch terrorist attacks inside India, he stated.  The presence of the groups had impeded trade, affected industry and educational institutions and inhibited socio-economic development in southern Bhutan, he said, stating, “They had also killed many people.’’ 

Denying this ULFA alleged that many of the top leaders were caught when they were having negotiations with the Bhutan government. His Royal Highness used to inspect the camps every year without any concern, Rajkhowa alleged. ULFA also claimed that it had gone to Bhutan to set up camps with the full knowledge of the Royal Bhutan Government and did not cause any harm to that country as had been alleged by its Prime Minister at the ongoing SAARC summit. Despite ruling out talks with the United Liberation Front of Asom, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has said his government would adopt the rebels’ children and give them better education and health care.

Mr. Gogoi has said it was his government’s responsibility to take care of all the 27 children, in the age group of two to 12, handed over to them by the Bhutan Government following operation “All Clear’’ in which 30 camps of ULFA, NDFB, KLO were destroyed. The children are now in a refugee camp near Tamulpur. “We have already issued instructions and will certainly want to see each of them getting proper education so that they all can become a good citizen of India,’’ he said.

“The ULFA have vanished leaving the womenfolk and the children at the mercy of the Bhutanese authority. They do not have any responsibility for the children who are being deprived of proper education,’’ he said. Mr. Gogoi said the children are absolutely innocent. “What crime have they committed to be denied of better educational facilities? We will certainly take care of that.’’ The Assam Government has ruled out conditional talks with ULFA. Mr. Gogoi said “We are ready if the ULFA comes for talks without any preconditions like that of the MNF, the NSCN and the BLT. Government could not talk to the ULFA as long as they demand sovereignty, he added. In a significant development, 16 militants have laid down arms in Assam’s Jorhat district.  This is the first major surrender in upper Assam since the Bhutan operations began last month. The surrendered militants include 15 of the ULFA and one of MULTA. The operatives of the Eastern Command Liaison Unit operating in the region motivated the militants to surrender along with a large number of assorted weapons, ammunitions, explosives and sensitive documents. Among those who surrendered include: Rup Jyoti Dutta (Karuna), Haren Gogoi, Mantu Borah, Pankaj Baruah, Atul Saikia, Nipu Neog, Chandra Kanti Nath, Ritul Kalita, Sanjeeb Bor Thakur, Prashanta Dutta, Bhaskar Bordoloi, Abouri Dutta (Sharma), Ranjit Boruah, Rajen Borah and Bipul Chander Boruah. Along with them, Jahir Ahmed of MULTA also surrendered.

Meanwhile, the Court of the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (I) remanded the ULFA’s self-styled central publicity secretary Mithinga Daimari to judicial custody at the Guwahati central jail.   The ULFA leader was reproduced in the court in connection with the Special Operation Unit (Assam Police) case no 2/98 on expiry of seven days police custody granted by the court earlier. The outfit’s leader was recently apprehended by the Royal Bhutan Army in Bhutan during the operation ‘All Clear’ and subsequently handed over to the Assam Police.

While reproducing the ULFA Central publicity secretary in the court, the Special Operation Unit (SOU) of Assam Police made an application for ‘shown arrest’ of the ULFA leader in connection with other two SOU cases. However, since the investigating officer failed to produce the case diary in the court in connection with the two cases, the  court rejected the prayer for the ‘shown arrest’ at this stage and the matter was adjourned. The court then remanded Mithinga Daimari alias Deepak Kachari in judicial custody at Central Jail, Guwahati. Top ULFA leader Bhimkanta Buragohain alias Mama and three others were remanded to 14-day judicial custody by a lower court. All of them were produced before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate M M Ali, who sent them to judicial custody. On the other hand, a Jalpaiguri court remanded twelve Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) militants in seven-day police custody, who were deported by the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA). The ultras had surrendered before the RBA at Bucca camp in South Bhutan last month. The RBA had handed over the militants to the Indian army yesterday. The Indian Army later lodged them to local police at Binaguri cantonment. One AK-47 rifle, one UMG, six rifles, including carbines, and a huge cache of ammunition recovered from the ultras, which were handed by the RBA to the Indian authorities. Some cash was also recovered from the ultras, official sources said.  About 34 suspected United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) militants have been arrested from different areas of Dhaka City, police said. However, the B’desh govt. denied the arrest. .

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