A chronology of Ulfa since its inception
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_a- ... on_1320025
Men who broke the Ulfa code
‘Well-planned’ operation brings about surrender of outfit chairman and deputy commander-in-chief
http://telegraphindia.com/1091205/jsp/n ... 824648.jsp
Highly placed sources in Dispur named three critical cogs in the wheel of the central plan to get the Ulfa to smoke the peace pipe — G.M. Srivastava, the recently appointed security adviser to the chief minister, additional DGP Khagen Sarma (special branch) and principal secretary (home and political) S.C. Das. The trio had recently tasted success by bringing the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) to the mainstream.
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“Overall, there is Assam DGP Shankar Barua and chief secretary P.C. Sharma. But the trio is mostly working on ensuring that not only Ulfa but other insurgencies, too, are resolved peacefully and amicably. They also enjoy the backing of the political bosses. The police, home department and the CMO are working as a well-knit team,” a source said. The entire operation involves the Union home ministry, external affairs ministry, the Prime Minister’s Office and Dispur.
Things started moving with the Centre adopting a zero tolerance policy — as enunciated by Chidambaram — towards insurgency after the Mumbai terror attack and the appointment of G.K. Pillai, an experienced Northeast hand, as Union home secretary. Pillai, as then joint secretary in the home ministry looking after the Northeast, had been a key backroom player in the early negotiations with the NSCN (I-M).
In its move to neutralise Northeast militant outfits, particularly the Ulfa, the Centre started with diplomatic initiatives after the “pro-India” Sheikh Hasina regime took charge in Bangladesh. The move to get militant leaders operating out of that country to India paid dividends with the “push back” of Ulfa finance secretary Chitrabon Hazarika and foreign secretary Sasha Choudhury.
The Centre also put pressure on the NSCN factions not to give “too much leeway” to the Assam groups. Netting senior Ulfa leaders is part of the plan to help allow the outfit to hold its general council meeting in India. The council, according to Ulfa leaders incarcerated here, has the final say in matters such as holding talks.
The state government “complemented” the Centre’s efforts by launching coordinated and intensified counter-insurgency operations under the Unified Command, choking funds flow to the outfit, encouraging surrender and ceasefire, ensuring proper rehabilitation and initiating development in known militant strongholds that picked up during the tenure of former home commissioner Rajiv Kumar Bora. More importantly, Dispur, like the Centre, was unambiguous in denouncing militancy and terrorism. The Congress-led government and the Congress party spoke the same language as far as insurgent groups were concerned.
The government also handled the “real” news about Rajkhowa with unprecedented zeal and cautiousness. “Secrecy is the hallmark of the ongoing mission to get the Ulfa to the talks table,” a senior state government official said. “Earlier, attempts were scuttled by vested interests because different wings of the government spoke in different languages. We don’t want to repeat our mistakes,” a source said. “Going overboard with the catch or blowing one’s trumpet could backfire. Ulfa is no ordinary group. Public reaction can change any moment, particularly in the rural belt where there is still unemployment and the government’s delivery mechanism is less than satisfactory. It is, therefore, important to gauge the public mood and, even more important, manage it,” the source said.
What outfit lost with Raju
http://telegraphindia.com/1091205/jsp/n ... 822434.jsp
“With the deputy commander coming overground, a large number of armed wing cadres, especially from the lower Assam districts, will join the mainstream very soon. And I am sure the striking power of Ulfa has received a setback,” said Russel Maradona, in-charge of the Nalbari-based designated camp of the pro-talks group of the outfit.
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Barua is the most trusted lieutenant of commander-in-chief Paresh Barua. The commander had played a part in Barua’s election to the post of his deputy. A source said it was because of Barua’s command over the cadres that Nalbari, his home district, hardly witnessed a major incident till recently. “It is still a mystery why the outfit carried out two blasts at Nalbari on November 22, but one thing is certain: it was executed without the knowledge of Barua,” Maradona said.
Bangalore cops get arrested LeT duo
http://telegraphindia.com/1091205/jsp/n ... 822435.jsp
Peaceniks eye major gains --- Ulfa leader expects B company cadres to join group
http://telegraphindia.com/1091205/jsp/n ... 817473.jsp
“Since a majority of the B company cadres are from Sivasagar district from where the chairman hails, it is just a matter of time that most of them will join us,” Jiten Dutta, a leader of the pro-talks group, told this correspondent yesterday.
The battalion’s A and C companies declared a unilateral ceasefire in June last year. The B company of the most lethal battalion of the outfit, however, stayed back for “chairman Rajkhowa’s consent” before deciding to join the pro-talks group.
Clarify stand on talks, Paresh tells Arabinda
http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/det ... c0509/at02
Baruah called upon the ULFA chairman to remember the demands and ideology of the ULFA and the supreme sacrifices of more than 12,000 ULFA members. He appealed to the ULFA chairman not to fall into the trap of the Government of India to take part in “so called talks” and asked him to clarify his position regarding talks.
So seems like this public clarification request means that Arabinda Rajkhowa has split from Poresh Borua's stand... AoA.
Rebel leaders to be produced in court today
http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/det ... c0509/at03
Media persons besides people in large numbers were kept waiting throughout the day before the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kamrup, as Assam Police decided not to produce ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and other rebel leaders before the court today. The rebel leaders are expected to be produced tomorrow.
ULFA leaders keen for talks
Contact with commanders of most of the ULFA battalions including Hira Saraniya, the dreaded leader of the outfit’s 709 battalion, have been established and a breakthrough can be expected in the next few days. Official sources have claimed that all the four ULFA battalions, following the arrest of ULFA chairman and deputy commander Raju Baruah among others, are said to have shown keenness in pursuing the peace talks route, provided the Centre agrees to entertain their charter of demands, which may not feature the demand of sovereignty.
http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/det ... c0509/at05
Talks with ULFA in due course: Pillai
http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/det ... c0509/at07
“They have just come. Everything will take place in due course. Wait for that,” he said.
Bangladesh did not arrest Ulfa chief: Home Minister Sahara
Dhaka, 4 December : Bangladesh Home Minister Sahara Khatun on Friday denied recent media reports that Indian separatist group ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa had been arrested in Bangladesh and later pushed back to India. “Since we did not even arrest him, how come the question of pushing him back arises?” the home minister said. Sahara Khatun denied the widespread media reports while talking to reporters after attending a function in the capital in the morning. In response to another query, whether her government will place any reply following the recent reports by some Indian media, Sahara said they published whatever they thought and there is nothing for her government to do.
Earlier BBC News and Indian media reported that the Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa has been taken to Delhi from Tripura where he surrendered to the security forces.
Bangladesh acting against NE's terrorists: Tripura CM
Bangladesh has been taking action against terrorists from India’s northeast, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said here Thursday, a day after top ULFA leader Ababinda Rajkhowa was reported to have been taken into custody there. “Setting their base in Bangladesh, the outlawed guerrillas continue to carry out violent attacks in northeastern India. In view of the Bangladesh government operation, the strength of the northeast militants has been gradually reducing,” Sarkar told reporters today. “A large number of ultras have surrendered to the government this year and no youths are willing to join militancy nowadays.” To a question about arrest or detention of self-styled United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) supremo Biswamohan Debbarma by Bangladeshi security forces, Sarkar said Tripura police have been looking into the matter and collecting information.
SATP:
Arrested LeT militant reveals his links with PDP leader Madani
Express Buzz reports that the arrested Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant and the mastermind of the July 25, 2008 Bangalore bomb blasts, Nasir, who was handed over to the Bangalore Police on December 4, has revealed to investigators that he had links with Abdul Nasir Madani, leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the Police said in Bangalore. Tadaiyantavida Nasir alias Ummer Haji alias Ummer and his close aide Safaz alias Shafaz Samsuddi, were taken into custody by the Bangalore Police team lead by Assistant Commissioner Omkaraiah, City Commissioner of Police Shankar Bidari told Express Buzz. Madani was reportedly the first accused in the 12 serial bomb blasts that killed 33 people and injured 153 others in Coimbatore on February 14, 1998. But he was released after the Police failed to prove his involvement. He had close contacts with Nasir and the police are interrogating Nasir about possible involvement in the Coimbatore case, a Police officer said. Nasir allegedly visited Madani in October 2007 and acted as a mediator in a scuffle between Madani and Nasir''s associates. The Police said that Nasir reportedly revealed to investigators that he was responsible for converting youth in the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) through Tareequath classes (a meeting of like minded) to the Jihadi ideology. The Police said that Nasir and his associates regularly visited Hyderabad to attend similar assemblies.
I assume this report falls within the "rumour time" region.
Ulfa: No surrender, no peace talks offer
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 303153.cms
It was neither a surrender nor any precursor to a major peace offer. Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and deputy commander-in-chief
Raju Baruah, along with their families, were picked up by an alert Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) from Cox’s Bazaar in Chittagong on Wednesday while trying to cross over to Myanmar, apparently to escape the crackdown on Indian insurgent groups (IIGs) in Bangladesh. The leaders went through a round of questioning by the R&AW officials in Chittagong itself, before being brought to the BSF’s post at Dawki, Meghalaya, on Thursday. They were subsequently also questioned by the BSF officials, before being handed over to the Assam police on Friday.
Apprehending arrest in the wake of Sheikh Hasina’s government active cooperation with India on tackling insurgent groups like Ulfa and NDFB operating from Bangladeshi soil, especially after their fellow leaders Chitraban Hazarika and Shashadhar Choudhury met the same fate, Rajkhowa, his bodyguard Raju Bora, wife and two children chalked out a plan to enter Myanmar via the land border and proceed to Bangkok, from where they could fly off to either Pakistan or China. Incidentally, around 3-4 months ago, the Ulfa top boss, commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, too, had successfully sneaked out of Bangladesh. A frequent traveller, Baruah arrived in Dhaka in July-August 2009 after going across to Philippines, Bangkok and China, only to immediately fly out to Bangkok, giving R&AW the slip.
The escape did not go down well with Rajkhowa and others, who felt cheated as Baruah and family had escaped to safety even as they struggled to protect their families and cadres from the impending crackdown in Bangladesh. Careful not to let Rajkhowa and others slip out of Bangladesh, the R&AW team there mounted strict surveillance on them, trailing them all the way from Dhaka before intercepting them at Cox’s Bazaar in Chittagong on Wednesday. All of 10 persons were picked up, of which three are Ulfa members: Raju Baruah, Rajkhowa and his bodyguard Raju Bora. The others include Rajkhowa’s wife, son and daughter, Baruah’s wife and son and Shashadhar Choudhury’s wife and daughter.
Rajkhowa and Raju Baruah will now face trial in the cases pending against them in Assam, which involve serious charges like waging war against the State, and will go to jail. Their families will be kept at a safe destination. With virtually the entire political leadership of Ulfa now in jail, the option of a surrender-cum-talks may be weighed. However, a breakthrough in terms of a peace offer from Ulfa may not come anytime soon as there are divergent opinions within the top brass on the contours of the peace offer, including the tricky question of “sovereignty.”
Meanwhile, the R&AW has decided to go after Paresh Baruah, who it believes will be shifting base between Pakistan, China and Thailand in the days to come. Not only will the agency closely track his possible travel to Dhaka to lay hands on him, but India will also pursue Bangladesh for a crackdown on Baruah’s vast business interests there. While some of these ventures have been identified, his other investments across Bangladesh are still being tracked. All these will subsequently be frozen by the Bangladeshi authorities, thus shutting the tap, to some extent, on the finances that keep Baruah going.
Baruah has apparently earned the disaffection of his cadres owing to his rich lifestyle that distanced him from the miseries of his cadres. Not only this, his bent towards Islam (his wife and children are devout Muslims) is seen as a sign of his shift towards Pakistan and Bangladesh, as is his decision to base himself in Bangladesh even though Ulfa is ideologically opposed to illegal immigration from Bangladesh.
