United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)
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Treasure trove in Kali temple?
The Times of India, Apr 14 2016
`Ulfa's treasure trove stolen from temple just before Army raid'
Dhananjay Mahapatra A former Military Intelligence (MI) man on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court saying a stash of Rs 300 crore in cash, 300 kg of gold and AK-47 rifles, allegedly belonging to Ulfa, was stolen from the cellar of a nondescript Kali temple in a tea garden on the outskirts of Guwahati in 2014 and demanded a probe into the theft.“Owner of Rani Tea Garden was one Mridul Bhattacharyawho used to collect money from owners of tea gardens and give it to Ulfa.
Mridul was also involved in smuggling of gold. He and his wife were murdered under suspicious circumstances in 2012,“ petitioner Manoj Kumar Kaushal alleged.
He claimed a trusted informer had given informa tion about the treasure under the Kali temple and that the Army was planning to raid it on June 1, 2014. Less than 24 hours before the raid, 13 people named in the petition, allegedly took away the treasure, he alleged.
A bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justices R Banumathi and U U Lalit asked additional solicitor general Maninder Singh to report backon the matter by May 6.
Peace accords
2023
[From the archives, Dec 30, 2023: The Times of India]
‘Golden day’: Centre signs peace deal with Ulfa faction
Outfit To Vacate Camps, Disband, Surrender Arms
Bharti.Jain@timesgroup.com
New Delhi : The pro-talks faction of United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) led by Arabinda Rajkhowa on Friday signed a memorandum of settlement with the Centre and Assam government in the presence of home minister Amit Shah, who shared that representatives of the outfit have agreed to abjure the path of violence, surrender all arms, disband the armed outfit, vacate camps housing armed cadres and join the mainstream.
Stating that Friday was a “golden day for the future of Assam”, Shah said his ministry, as part of PM Modi’s vi sion to free the northeast from “extremism, violence and conflict”, has been making sustained efforts to talk to all armed groups in the region with an open mind. “In the last five years, we have signed nine pacts to make peace with insurgent outfits across various northeastern states and to end inter state border disputes. This has established peace in a large part of the northeast,” he said, citing the 87% decline in violent incidents, 90% dip in fatalities and removal of AFSPA from 85% of Assam since 2014.
“With the signing of the tripartite memorandum of settlement with Ulfa, peace talks with all armed groups of Assam have reached a logical conclusion,” said Shah. He shared that around 750 cadres of Ulfa surrendered on Friday, taking the total surrenders in Assam so far to 8,200.
The signing event at the home ministry’s North Block office was attended by Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, and a 16-member Ulfa delegation led by Rajkhowa and representatives from 13 civil society organisations. “This agreement draws the curtains on Assam’s oldest armed resistance pursued by Ulfa, protects the interests of our people & paves way for spurring growth in the region,” Sarma posted on X.
The Centre and Assam government, as part of the pact, will announce development projects worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the state.
YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS
1990
ULFA sought Britain’s help
Prabin Kalita, September 17, 2020: The Times of India
Close on the heels of the National Archives of the UK declassifying documents that reveal how Assam’s proscribed Ulfa once sought Britain’s “diplomatic support” for its armed secessionist campaign, the outfit’s general secretary Anup Chetia revealed to TOI that meeting diplomat David Austin in Dhaka in 1990 was the end of this audacious gamble.
“It’s true that I and two my associates had met Austin in Dhaka in 1990. The diplomat only told us that he was taking note of our request for diplomatic support, but there was no word from him or the British government after that,” Chetia said.
“We wanted Britain to support our movement and intervene in the human rights violations in Assam. We did not seek any material support… it was only diplomatic support that we wanted,” said Chetia, who is currently leading a faction of the outfit in its talks with the Centre.
The duo that accompanied him were the outfit’s then publicity secretary Siddhartha Phukan, alias Sunil Nath, and foreign secretary Iqbal, alias Munin Nabis.The two have long severed ties with Ulfa.
Denying that Ulfa had any understanding with Bangladesh, Chetiasaid, “We were all staying, rather hiding, there illegally. We had no agreement with the Bangladesh government.” He added, “We did send our cadre to Afghanistan for training. We had to build a channel in Pakistan to send our boys to Afghanistan, but we did not have any kind of official understanding with the two countries.”
Chetia revealed that Ulfa had its base in Bhutan for about six years till 2003 and still has one in Myanmar.
On whether the outfit ever had any ties with China, where Chetia’s cousin and the Ulfa anti-talks faction’s chief Paresh Baruah is suspected to be based, he claimed to have no information regarding this.
Chetia claimed he had no knowledge of Ulfa’s ties with China, where his cousin and Ulfa anti-talks faction chief Paresh Baruah is suspected to be based. He admitted sending militants for training to Afghanistan
