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This is an archive article published on August 1, 2000

ULFA used Vaishnavite monastery in Majuli as its office till 1996

GUWAHATI, JULY 31: In what can be termed a startling revelation, police have confirmed that ULFA militants used the premises of the Uttar ...

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GUWAHATI, JULY 31: In what can be termed a startling revelation, police have confirmed that ULFA militants used the premises of the Uttar Kamalabari Satra, an important Vaishnavite monastery in the world-famous Majuli island on the Brahmaputra river as its office for over four years till 1996.

The confirmation has come following the interrogation of two bhakats (disciples) from the Satra premises on Saturday after police received specific information in this regard.

The arrest and the extraction of this piece of information may now throw new light on the abduction and subsequent murder of well-known social worker Sanjoy Ghosh in Majuli in June, 1997.

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According to reports from Majuli, during interrogation the two bhakats told police that they were used by ULFA leaders not only in passing on various kinds of information from the island to places across the river, but also to keep in safe custody various incriminating documents belonging to the banned underground group.

The police have also seized a gun from Krishna Hazarika, one of the two arrested bhakats. On interrogation, Hazarika revealed that the gun was given to him by Arup Baruah, a dreaded ULFA activist in 1997 itself. Baruah was one of the prime suspects in the Sanjoy Ghosh abduction and murder case, but was subsequently killed in an encounter with the police in August, 1997.

Whether the Satra was also used for accommodating senior ULFA leaders coming from outside the island, however, is yet to confirmed.

The police have also recovered a bag full of incriminating documents belonging to the banned outfit from the possession of the two bhakats, and these are being thoroughly examined in Jorhat, the district headquarters, to find out more information pertaining to the Sanjoy Ghosh case.

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Ghosh was working on a social uplift project of AVARD-NE, a well-known NGO, when he was abducted, murdered and thrown into the Brahmaputra on June 30, 1997 by the ULFA.

Police have also confirmed that the ULFA terminated their links with the two bhakats after the Sanjoy Ghosh episode. Hazarika and Holiram Bora were arrested following the chance arrest of one lower-level ULFA cadre called Pinku Dutta, alias Manoj Gogoi, on Wednesday while he was crossing the river from Majuli to Jorhat on a ferry.

The arrest of the two disciples has also come as a big embarrassment for Kamala Kanta Deva Goswami, the Satradhikar or chief of Uttar Kamalabari. Reacting to the incident, the Satradhikar said that he had never imagined that the ULFA would use the Satra premises or rope in two of its disciples to work for it.

This was the first time that the police have ever entered a Satra premises in Assam suspecting its disciples of being involved in ULFA-related activities.

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The militant outfit was recently in the news once again trying to set up a communication centre in Majuli. This was found out by the police following the arrest of some militants at Jorhat. The police also believe that ULFA had deputed Swadhinata Phukan, its assistant publicity secretary, to carry out the task, but he was killed in an encounter with the police at Gorumara in the outskirts of the town in June.

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