As many as 57 militants belonging to the banned ULFA and NDFB laid down arms before the Army in Assam.Out of those who gave up arms, 34 belonged to the ULFA and 23 were from the NDFB.The ultras surrendered before the GOC 4 Corps of the Indian Army, Lt Gen Anup S Jamwal at Rangia.

Leading the pack of militants, veteran ULFA weapons expert and instructor Sachidananda Tara said they were disillusioned by the top brass of the outfit who were leading luxurious life along with their families abroad. ''We, the cadres, are subjected to hardships in jungle camps because of paucity of food and medicines while our leaders are having good time abroad. Many more cadres are willing to come back to the mainstream at the first opportunity,'' he said at the rehabilitation ceremony organised at the headquarters of the 21 Mountain Division of the Army, in charge of counter-insurgency operation in Lower Assam areas.

Addressing the function, Lt Gen Jamwal called upon the people of the state to remain vigilant against the attempts by ''foreign forces'' to foment trouble in the state.He said the situation in the state had improved a lot notwithstanding sporadic incidents of violence. The positive sign was that realisation was gradually dawning on more and more members of militant outfits about the futility of treading on the path of violence, he said.

Inspector General of Police (Special Branch), Khagen Sharma, while referring to recent series of blasts triggered by the banned outfits in the state, said all the explosions were aimed at hitting ''soft targets''. It reflected the weakness, not strength, of the militant outfits, he said.

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