Apart from United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) chairman Rajkhowa, National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) chief Biswamohan Debbarma had also been detained in Bangladesh, said a senior Assam police official on condition of anonymity.
“We have information that he has been picked up by security agencies in Bangladesh. However we are awaiting details on his handover to Indian authorities,” the official told The Hindu.
He indicated that the procedure of handing over Rajkhowa might be the same as that of two other top ULFA leaders — Sashadhar Choudhury and Chitraban Hazarika, who were handed over to BSF authorities earlier in the first week of November by Bangladesh Rifles.
ADVERTISEMENT
Reports said Rajkhowa and another ULFA leader Apurba Barua alias Bhiati had been handed over to BSF authorities in Tripura. However, the BSF denied such reports.
The news of Rajkhowa’s detention came as a body blow to the ULFA in the midst of revived efforts by the People’s Committee for Peace Initiative of Assam (PCPIA), a conglomerate of different organisations, to broker peace talks between the outlawed outfit and the Centre. While Sashadhar Choudhury and Chitraban Hazarika, now in police custody, maintained that Rajkhowa would have the final say on peace talks with the government, Rajkhowa in a recent statement reacted sharply to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s statement on the issue. Mr. Chidambaram ruled out any talks with the ULFA till the outfit gave up arms and any claim of sovereignty.