Revision as of 20:06, 31 December 2023

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.

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