The Hindu : National : 33 Assam militants surrender, lay down arms

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Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007
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33 Assam militants surrender, lay down arms

Sushanta Talukdar

— Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar

Farewell to arms: An ULFA militant with Lt. Gen. B.S. Jaswal, GOC 4 Corps, after she laid down arms at Tamulpur, about 70 km off Guwahati, on Tuesday.

Tamulpur: Thirty three militants of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the Karbi Longri N.C. Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF) on Tuesday surrendered before officials of the Army and the Assam Police. They handed in their arms and ammunition and were given pens and roses to signify the beginning of a new life.

The militants will now undergo vocational training in computers, tailoring, carpentry, driving, fishery, poultry, bee-keeping, mushroom farming, painting and photography at a Rehabilitation Training Centre. The centre was inaugurated by the General Officer Commanding, 4 Corps, Lieutenant-General B.S. Jaswal, as part of the surrender ceremony at the Army Brigade headquarters here, about 65 km from Guwahati.

The youths will be given a stipend of Rs. 2,000 a month during their stay at the Rehabilitation Training Centre. They will be entitled to get a financial assistance of Rs. 1.5 lakh, which will be deposited in a bank. They will be able to withdraw this amount after three years of continued “good behaviour.”

Lieutenant-General Jaswal told reporters that there was growing disgruntlement among the rank and file of the ULFA and other militant outfits.

A large number of these “misguided youth” had expressed their desire to return to the mainstream.

The militants were led by ‘senior second lieutenant’ Nagen Rabha and ‘sergeant major’ Anil Das. Of them, 31, including two women, belonged to the 709 and 109 battalions of ULFA and two to the KLNLF. They laid down 19 assorted weapons before Lieutenant-General Jaswal; GOC, 21 Mountain Division, Major General Gyan Bhushan; Director-General of Police R.N. Mathur; Principal Secretary, Home, Subhash Das; and Inspector- General of Police (Special Branch) Khagen Sharma.

The ceremony was witnessed by family members of the militants.

“I was arrested three times since I joined the ULFA in 1998. I had undergone training in Bhutan. I have decided to come over ground as I realised that I have been following a path which has no future,” said Ranima Khaklari, a women ULFA cadre.

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