The anti-talk faction of ULFA led by Paresh Barua has sent extortion notes to several tea estates in upper Assam districts in the past few days demanding between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 50 lakh depending on size and business of companies. A top Assam Police official said there were reports of some tea estates receiving extortion letters and that vigilance had been stepped up. While we are taking steps to prevent the extortion,this also reveals that the coffers of the Paresh Barua faction are drying up, he said. One such note written in English on the letterhead of ULFA (Independent),bearing its stamp and seal and signed by self-styled Lt Col Jibon Asom,finance secretary to the faction,says: With due revolutionary greetings,we the ULFA-Independent ask you/your company to contribute a sum of Rs 50,00,000 (50 lakh only) to our just cause and hope that you will comply with our proposal as soon as possible. Another letter,in Assamese and signed by Second Lieutenant Bijoy Asom Bhuyan tells a tea planter that the ULFA faction had decided to collect an annual contribution of Rs 15 lakh from each tea estate from 2014. We are looking forward to your consent,following which we will send you a contract letter, the handwritten note on a plain paper says.
