Bhutan-battered ULFA gets a salve from Gogoi: amnesty if you surrender

‘‘I am equally anxious and concerned about the lives of hundreds of young boys from the state who are now stuck in Bhutan, risking their lives. After all, they are our boys and we cannot allow them to get killed,’’ Gogoi said.

He said his government had specific information that most militants stranded in Bhutan were ready to surrender. ‘‘We are asking the Centre to contact Bhutanese authorities. We want the women and children, currently in Bhutan’s custody, returned to Assam safely.’’

He said he was working on a plan to set up facilities for militants to surrender provided they did not engage the security forces. ‘‘They are most welcome to call up any police station or even local MLAs and other responsible people if they wish to come overground,’’ Gogoi said.

At least 42 ULFA and NDFB cadres, who managed to flee the Royal Bhutan Army offensive, have so far surrendered to security forces in Assam. Of them, 20 have surrendered to the Army and 22 to the Assam Police. Fourteen others have been killed in encounters with security forces in the state since the Bhutan operations began.

At Tezpur, nine militants surrendered along with seven AK-47 rifles and some other weapons at the Army’s IV Corps headquarters. Six of them belonged to the Enigma group, a special strike force of the ULFA, while three were from the NDFB. Twelve others surrendered before the SP in Darrang district today.

IV Corps commander Lt Gen Mohinder Singh said the Army has deployed more troops along the Indo-Bhutan border so that militants could be apprehended. He said top militant leaders had managed to escape or were safely lodged in Bangladesh and other countries while the cadres had been left to bear the brunt of the Bhutan offensive.

‘‘The lower level boys are today totally cut off from their leaders who are safe in Bangladesh and other countries,’’ he said.