Big blow to ULFA; Rajkhowa held in Bangladesh

New Delhi, Dec 2 (PTI) In a major setback to United
Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), its top leader Arabinda
Rajkhowa has been detained in Bangladesh
and is likely to be handed over to India soon.

Another top northeast insurgent leader of banned National
Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) Biswa Mohan Deb Barma has
also been detained by the authorities in Bangladesh.
Top government sources said 53-year-old Rajkhowa was
picked up by sleuths of Bangladeshi security agencies last
week and kept in a secured location in Dhaka while Deb Barma
was detained in the southeastern port city of Chittagong.
For the record, Indian Home Secretary G K Pillai and
his Bangladesh counterpart Abdus Sobhan Sikder, who is
currently in India, said they do not have official
confirmation of Rajkhowa's detention.
"Because I am away from the country, I do not have such
information till now," Sikder told reporters when asked about
the development.
Pillai said "We also have no official information of
arrest of Arabinda Rajkhowa in Bangladesh or anywhere else".
Efforts are on to bring Rajkhowa, Deb Barma and another
ULFA activist Bhaity Barua, who was also picked up along
with Rajkhowa, to India.
National Security Advisor M K Narayanan said "I don't
think he (Rajkhowa) has been arrested. If at all it will
happen, probably he may surrender."
Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram said in Parliament
that he was expecting a political statement from ULFA in the
next few days and if it offers talks, the government will
accept provided the outfit abjures violence and gives up the
demand for sovereignty. PTI TEAM
MYR


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