• The operation was based on confirmed inputs and was a result of relentless pursuit over the last nine months by security forces
  • The ULFA (I) has been demanding an independent state of Assam for the longest time
  • The central government had banned the militant outfit in 1990

Shillong: In a major victory for counter-militancy operations, a swift and well-planned operation executed by intelligence agencies of the Indian Army at the Meghalaya-Assam-Bangladesh Border, dreaded hardcore United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) leader Drishti Rajkhowa surrendered to forces along with four accomplices Vedanta, Yasin Asom, Ropjyoti Asom and Mithun Asom. A huge cache of arms were also recovered on them.
The operation was based on confirmed inputs and was a result of relentless pursuit over the last nine months by security forces to nab the militants.
He has long been on the wanted list of ULFA insurgents responsible for their militant activities in lower Assam. His surrender is a major blow to the underground organisation and heralds a new dawn ushering in peace in the region.
Rajkhowa, the second-in-command of the militant group, is currently under the custody of the Army intelligence and is being brought to Assam, news agency PTI quoted government sources as saying.
He is believed to be a close confidante of Paresh Baruah, the so-called ‘commander-in-chief’ of ULFA (I).
Sources said that Rajkhowa was based in Bangladesh till recently and entered Meghalaya only a few weeks ago.
The ULFA (I) has been demanding an independent state of Assam for the longest time and the central government had banned the militant outfit in 1990.
Assam Finance and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had in August said that Union Minister Amit Shah is focused on resolving the ULFA issues in the northeast and bring peace to the region.
Later that month, security forces had nabbed three hardcore cadres of the outfit near Noglo in Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh on August 28. Three pistols, three magazines, live rounds of ammunition and badges of the banned militant outfit were also recovered.