The pro-talks faction of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam led by its chairman Arabinda Rajhowa on Tuesday denied receiving any money for maintenance of its cadres and their families from the government as reported in a section of the media.
The chief of Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh Mohan Rao Bhagawat said on Saturday that the Centre should hold no talks with insurgent groups in the Northeast on the country's sovereignty and integrity, as these are non-negotiable.
All four blasts occurred in a span of 10 minutes -- between 8.15 and 8.25 am, a police officer said. There has been no report of any casualty, as Republic Day being a holiday, people were mostly indoors, he said.
A large number of people defied a bandh called by the anti-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Assam to attend the election rally of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Dhakuakhana in Lakhimpur district in eastern Assam on Saturday morning.Dr Singh called upon the people to give the ruling Congress another chance to complete its unfinished agenda of putting the state on the fast track of development in a peaceful atmosphere.
Happily, there is today regime compatability between India and Bangladesh on this issue as India's core security concerns arise from the same elements that seek to unseat Hasina. The latter has wisely recognised this and in boldly striking at fanatical and terrorist elements, which pose a threat to India and Bangladesh, has acted with far greater maturity than the Pakistani leadership which continues to nurture jihadi groups.
A civilian was killed in the crossfire between the police and two militants of the United Liberation Front of Asom at Sualkuchi in Kamrup district of Assam.The slain civilian was identified as Maniram Rabha, a rickshaw puller. One of the two militants who were engaged in the gunfight was apprehended. According to the police, the militants were extorting money from a business establishment in the town when they were accosted.
Bangladesh's envoy to India has sought immediate steps for upgrading the New Delhi mission's security fearing retaliation by United Liberation front of Assam in the wake of the Indian Border Security Force arresting two top militant leaders, who were reportedly earlier detained in his country.
Following a meeting of the group's leaders, a spokesman of the outfit informed that it was unanimously decided in the meeting, which was attended by all the top leaders of the pro-talks faction, that no leader or cadre of the outfit get involved with the forthcoming assembly election in the state and the message has been sent to all the members of the outfit through 'proper channels'.
The ULFA anti-talks faction triggered a blast at Assam Pradesh Congres Committee headquarter on March 14 in which three Congress leaders were injured. But Gogoi on Friday tried to make light of the ULFA threat saying that the threat had been there since a long time.
The former Union minister drew the analogy of romance at a symposium he attended, besides Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav.
The ruling Congress in poll-bound Assam has asked its leaders and members in the state not to panic after they were threatened by the anti-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom. "We have told Congressmen to remain cautious. But there is nothing alarming about the threat from the anti-talks ULFA faction whose base has weakened in the state.
It is not yet clear whether Kuldeep's release has been secured by paying ransom to the militants.
At least four personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force were killed and over 30 injured when suspected militants from the banned United Liberation Front of Assam triggered a blast under a bus that was carrying CRPF personnel through Bhalukdubi Reserve Forest at Solmari in Goalpara district of western Assam on Friday morning.
Assam government on Monday announced that the wives and children of arrested United Liberation Front of Asom leaders chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, deputy commander-in-chief Raju Baruah, foreign secretary Sasadhar Choudhury were under police security and would be released soon as there was no case registered against the spouses; although they were members of the women wing of the outfit.
The Centre is treading cautiously on holding deliberations with the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom as it does not want to repeat the 1992 experience when five leaders of the rebel group released for talks availed the opportunity to go underground.
"I cannot confirm or deny the news." That is how Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi reacted to United Liberation Front of Assam chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa's arrest news amid emerging contradicting reports.
The Assam police killed a hardcore militant of the banned United Liberation Front of Assam and arrested another militant in two separate operations in eastern Assam on Tuesday.
Interacting with a group of Assamese students studying in the national capital, ULFA 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa said the existing political setup poses a threat to Assam and its people that led to the formation of the group and its 31 years of insurgency movement.
Communist Party of India general secretary A B Bardhan called upon the Central government to initiate steps to hold unconditional talks with the militant outfits in the North East, including the United Liberation Front of Asom, for the sake of peace and development of the region. "The government must open dialogue with the militant outfits, including the ULFA, at the earliest, without setting any pre-condition," Bardhan told the media in Guwahati.
Leaders of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom on Thursday met Home Minister P Chidambaram as they began face-to-face unconditional talks with the Centre in an attempt to usher in peace in insurgency-hit Assam.
Eight member-delegation of the United Liberation Front of Asom led by chairman Aurobinda Rajkhowa, already in the national capital, will hold talks with the Union Home Secretary G K Pillai on Thursday after a introductory meeting with the Home Minister P Chidambaram.
Revealing the stand of the outfit in the aftermath of the arrest of most of its top leaders in the past few months, spokesperson Mithinga Daimary also said that given the (changed) political situation in the region and the world, sticking to the armed struggle could prove suicidal.
The outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam will meet Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi on February 10 to discuss modalities for the peace talks that is on the anvil between the outfit and the government.Talking to the media for the first time after the outfit decided to hold an unconditional dialogue with the government in its general council meeting on January 30, the leadership of the outfit said that Chidambaram had invited them for the meeting.
After lying low for the last two years since one of its factions declared unilateral ceasefire, United Liberation Front of Asom militants attacked a tea planter and a garden employee and torched vehicles in upper Assam along Arunachal Pradesh.
Indian intelligence agencies said Bangladeshi security agencies have recently raided some hideouts of the United Liberation Front of Asom, prompting it's cadres to flee Bangladesh. The banned ULFA claimed on Wednesday that Chitraban Hazarika and Shashadhar Chowdhury were taken away by unidentified persons, from a house at Sector 3 of posh Uttara locality in Dhaka, where one of them was living with his family.
The Centre said on Thursday that the peace initiatives with the banned United Liberation Front of Asom had started in the "right direction" as some very senior leaders of the outfit had backed a negotiated settlement to end the decades-old insurgency problem in Assam.
He said the government continued to neglect national security.
Security forces operating under unified command have launched opeation in Tirap and Changlang districts of eastern Arunachal Pradesh which border with Myanmar to check cross border movements of terrorists from Assam and Nagaland to their bases inside Myanmar.
Former chief of the Intelligence Bureau P C Haldar will be the interlocutor between the government and the proscribed United Liberation Front of Assam if a peace process is initiated with the outfit, given the positive signals emanating from its ranks.
United Liberation Front of Asom raised its voice for the first time against Bangladeshi infiltration in Assam and warned that the problem will soon become a major threat to Delhi.
United Liberation Front of Asom chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa on Sunday said his outfit was ready to sit for peace talks without any preconditions for an "honourable" solution to relieve the people of Assam of their suffering.
United Liberation Front of Asom chief Arabinda Rajkhowa was released from the Guwahati Central Jail, two days after his bail plea was granted by a designated TADA court.
Leaders from 26 opposition parties, in power individually or in alliance in Delhi and 10 states, are meeting in Bengaluru to discuss strategy to take on the Narendra Modi-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The arrest of top United Liberation Front of Assam leaders and their eagerness for talks raised hopes of a negotiated settlement to the decades-long insurgency problem in Assam, which witnessed a relatively peaceful year.
Borsaikia, commander of a company of the 28th battalion of the outfit, was one of the most-wanted ULFA leaders.
Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Issac-Munivah wanted to join the operations against NSCN-K militants.
The ULFA chairman filed the bail petitions following release of five senior ULFA leaders on bail from jail in the last six months that has raised hopes for beginning of a dialogue with the outfit.
Though nobody is ready to exonerate the banned United Liberation Front of Asom, the investigation is now more focused on Islamic militants groups and fundamentalist organisations having either bases or links in the state. The police are not ignoring the ULFA angle in the course of investigation into Thursday's blasts.
It sparked a fire and caused extensive damage.
The army and police have rushed to the spot and have launched operations in the other parts of the state.
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