ULFA's Rajkhowa arrested in Bangladesh

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ULFA's Rajkhowa arrested in Bangladesh, say sources
Wed, Dec 2 12:31 PM

Guwahati, Dec 2 (IANS) Arabinda Rajkhowa, chairman of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), and its publicity secretary Apurba Baruah have been arrested in Bangladesh, informed sources said Wednesday.

Both are expected to be in India's custody soon, the sources told IANS.

The two leaders are believed to have been arrested by the Special Branch of the Bangladesh Police from downtown Dhaka.

Rajkhowa, 56, was in Bangladesh for close to two decades, operating out of bases in that country to order hit-and-run strikes in Assam.

He founded the ULFA in 1979 along with five other leaders, including the outfit's commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, who is believed to have escaped Bangladesh and is reportedly hiding in China.

Last month, Bangladesh reportedly handed over two ULFA leaders, self-styled foreign secretary Sasha Choudhury and finance secretary Chitrabon Hazarika, to Indian authorities.

Indian officials say they were arrested on the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura while trying to sneak into India.

 

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Rajkhowa - from student leader to India's most wanted
Wed, Dec 2 09:00 PM

Guwahati/Dhaka, Dec 2 (IANS) For 30 long years till his arrest, Arabinda Rajkhowa remained a fugitive much sought after by Indian security forces, staying the better part of that period abroad, mainly in Bangladesh under various aliases.

His real is name is Rajib Rajkonwar, son of late Uma Rajkonwar and Damayanti Rajkonwar, of Lakwa village in eastern Assam's Sivasagar district. His both parents were ardent followers of Mahatma Gandhi and believed in his philosophy of non-violence.

On April 7, 1979, Rajkhowa and four others, including the outfit's self-styled commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, met at the historic Rang Ghar, an amphitheatre of the 16th century Ahom royalty, in eastern Assam's Sivasagar town and founded the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).

It is said the ULFA was an offshoot of the anti-foreigners movement launched same year by the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) - a violent agitation against illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Assam.

Ironically, Rajkhowa found refuge in Bangladesh in his later years when on the run from Indian authorities.

Friends and close confidants of Rajkhowa said he always talked about the threat to the indigenous Assamese population from the Bangladeshi migrants, besides frequently accusing New Delhi of plundering the region's natural resources. And he alleged 'step-motherly' treatment meted out to Assam by successive central governments.

Before he founded the ULFA, Rajkhowa was a leader of the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), a radical students' group in Assam, that also espoused similar views - oust from the state illegal migrants from Bangladesh, and accused New Delhi of discriminating against the interests of Assam.

Rajkhowa, 53, a college dropout (he studied till class 12), decided to form the ULFA with a view to creating an independent homeland in Assam.

Since then, Rajkhowa was popularly known in the outfit as 'Sir' or 'Chairman Sir' with all the rank and file addressing him by these titles.

Married in the late '80s to Kaveri Kachari, then a budding poet and a student at the Gauhati University, Rajkhowa spent the initial years of his married life in the jungles of Assam and Bhutan.

The couple has two children. Kaveri and the two children are believed to be living in Bangladesh still.

A sharpshooter who was able to handle both small and heavy weapons, Rajkhowa and other top ULFA leaders in the initial few years operated out of bases in the eastern Tinsukia district.

In the beginning, the ULFA managed to inspire the common Assamese with an ideal of an independent state.

But then the ULFA's image got a beating in the late '80s when the outfit resorted to ransom killings of businessmen and individuals.

On Nov 27, 1990, the first full-fledged military operation, codenamed 'Operation Bajrang', was launched against ULFA with the army uprooting its main base in the Lakhipathar forests in Tinsukia district.

Since then the ULFA is on the run, but managed to strike at its targets - vital installations, security forces and selected individuals.

It was after the 1990 operations that Rajkhowa and other top ULFA leaders fled Assam and initially took shelter in Bhutan.

Then came 'Operation All Clear' by Bhutan and ULFA leaders were forced to take shelter this time in Bangladesh and continued staying there until three days ago when Rajkhowa was arrested by Bangladesh police and handed over to India.

Rajkhowa was always seen as the moderate face of the ULFA and very often talked of a political settlement to the insurgency problem - a sharp contrast to the stand taken by Paresh Baruah.

The generally taciturn Rajkhowa during his underground days traveled under fake passports of countries including Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Bhutan.

Since 1997, Rajkhowa is sought by Interpol on various charges of murder, kidnappings, and extortions carrying the maximum penalty of death, according to Assam police.

It is an irony that ULFA leaders decided to operate out of Bangladesh for long as the outfit was formed against the backdrop of the 'oust Bangladeshi' agitation in Assam.

Syed Zarir Hussain

 

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This is an irony not lost on many people. During the initial stages of the students agitation the protest was against the Congress Govt. allowing influx of Bangladeshi immigrants to the border area. This was done to improve their poll prospects.

The same group when they turned militant and went against the nation ran away and received sanctuary in Bangladesh,the very country against whose citizens they had started their agitation.

As they say the world is round.

 

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Arrested Ulfa chief 'taken to Delhi'

Indian separatist group United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa has been taken to Delhi from Tripura where he surrendered to the security forces, report BBC News and Indian media.

Rajkhowa's wife Kaberi Kachari and their two sons were put under house arrest in Dhaka, the media reports add.

Indian daily the Hindustan Times reports that the Ulfa chief was pushed back on Wednesday by the Bangladesh authorities into Tripura and later flown to New Delhi yesterday evening.

Two other top Ulfa leaders -- Chitrabon Hazarika and Sasha Choudhury -- were detained in Bangladesh last month and subsequently handed over to India, while Ulfa general secretary Anup Chetia is confined in Bangladesh jail since 1998.

BBC News Online adds: There are unconfirmed reports that the two other rebel leaders -- chairman of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) Ranjan Daimary and chairman of the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) Biswamohan Debbarma -- have also been held elsewhere in Bangladesh.

India's home ministry has not confirmed the reports of the arrests in Bangladesh.

Quoting Indian government sources, the CNN-IBN website says the Centre is considering giving safe passage to Rajkhowa to facilitate the peace talks.

It adds Ulfa chairman Rajkhowa and its publicity secretary Apurba Borua were flown into New Delhi in a special flight of the Border Security Force, while Rajkhowa's wife and two sons have also been reportedly kept under house arrest in Uttara in Dhaka.

Forty-two bank accounts held by Rajkhowa in a Dhaka bank were frozen in March. The accounts held deposits worth Rs 3,900 crore, most of which was extortion money.

Sources say Rajkhowa held the accounts under the name of Arbinda Ray and the accounts were frozen two months after Sheikh Hasina came to power in Bangladesh.

Hasina government is also putting pressure on him for talks with India

---------- Post added at 07:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:38 PM ----------

Seems like his handover had some string attached to it. Is he shown arrest in India?