Six Ulfa separatists held even as Assam CM offers amnesty

In a joint operation with Meghalaya police, army apprehended six cadres of the anti-talk faction of the Ulfa from Pedaldoba in West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya on Tuesday night.

Hours after the arrest, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, addressing a press conference in Guwahati, renewed his peace overtures to the Paresh Barua-led anti-talks faction of the Ulfa.

Gogoi on Wednesday said he was ready to write to the Government of India to give amnesty to Barua if he decides to return to the state and join the mainstream.

"If you (Barua) really want to do something, then why don't you come back to Assam and fight for the people? You form a political party, join politics, contest elections and prove that people support you," Gogoi said.

The chief minister was reacting to a recent claim made by Barua that India was scared of holding a plebiscite on the issue of Assam’s sovereignty and asked Indian leaders to learn about “true democracy from countries like Great Britain and Canada.”

State police believe Barua has been staying somewhere along the Myanmar-China border since Bangladesh government had flushed out Indian militant groups from its territory in 2009.

Though most of the top brasses of Ulfa have since joined the peace process to find a negotiated settlement to their demand, Barua has been continuing the secessionist activities from his Myanmar base.

Of late, security forces have launched a massive combing operation against the outfit in Assam and its neighbouring states.

During the operation in Garo Hills, army recovered six pistols, several live rounds, two hand grenades and a Tata Nano car from the arrested militants.

Based on a tip-off, the army, along with Meghalaya police, had launched the operation on the night of Oct 21 and apprehended the insurgents.

During interrogation, the arrested Ulfa cadres revealed their plans of carrying out extortion in Goalpara district of Assam.