Monday, October 27, 2008

ULFA camp along Indo-Bangla border

Guwahati, Oct 27 : The security forces have recently come to know of a camp of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) just around five kilometres across the international border in Bangladesh following the arrests and surrender of a few cadres who came to Assam from that camp. Security sources said that the camp is located at Bakapura in Sherpur district of Bangladesh, which is just across the international border with Meghalaya.

Sources revealed that according to information available, around a hundred to 150 cadres of the ULFA are staying in the camp. Though no senior leader of the ULFA stays in the camp, middle rung leaders of the militant group including Antu Chowdang, Pradyut Gohain and Drishti Rajkhowa are believed to be heading the camp.

Sources also alleged that the ULFA must be receiving direct or indirect help from the DGFI, the intelligence agency of Bangladesh or from the Bangladesh Rifles as it would not have been possible for the militant group to run a camp so close to the international border.

Sources said that the senior leaders of the ULFA including the chairman of the outfit Arabinda Rajkhowa and the commander in chief Paresh Baruah also spend most of their time in Bangladesh, they usually stay in Dhaka and the security agencies do not have any report of them visiting the camp adjacent to the international border.

Sources pointed out that after the declaration of unilateral cease-fire by the A and C companies of the 28 battalion of the ULFA, the level of violence has come down in the upper Assam districts as the militants belonging to the B company of the battalion, who were entrusted with the responsibility of carrying out operations in the districts of Sivasagar and Jorhat, have not been able to move around freely.

According to information available with the security forces, around 150 cadres of the B company of the 28 battalion of the ULFA are still in the camps in Myanmar, but they are not in a position to come down freely because of operations by the security forces and also because of the fact that they are not keen on coming face to face with their former colleagues, who are on cease-fire.

Sources also claimed that the ULFA has not been able to carry out any major operation in recent months due to pressure from the security forces and also because of the fact that the cadre strength has come down drastically.

The cadres who are outside the country in Bangladesh and Myanmar have not been able to come to Assam as freely as they did before.

However, sources admitted that the militant outfit might continue efforts to trigger off blasts to create disturbance and the outfit made several such attempts in the run up to the Independence Day but fortunately the recovery of the explosives foiled their bid.

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