Sanjoy Ghose murder accused arrested

Majuli is a two-hour boat-ride from Jorhat,located about 320 km from here.

The Assam Police on Friday arrested dreaded ULFA leader Phatik Hatimota,14 years after a group of militants led by him abducted and brutally murdered noted social activist Sanjoy Ghose in the Majuli island on the Brahmaputra in Assam. Majuli is a two-hour boat-ride from Jorhat,located about 320 km from here.

Confirming this,Jorhat district SP Sanjukta Parasar said Hatimota was picked by the police from a village under Bongaon police outpost in the river island on Friday. He was picked around 2.30 pm,but will be shifted to Jorhat only tomorrow because of certain formalities in the local police station, the SP told The Indian Express. Shifting a high-profile criminal by a boat across

the Brahmaputra also required adequate security,she said.

Hatimota was among 11 ULFA militants named in a CBI chargesheet filed before the special court here on June 16,1999.

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Ghose,secretary of well-known NGO called AVARD-NE,was working on a rural development project in Majuli island for a couple of years when he apparently invited the wrath of a militant-contractor nexus that was allegedly involved in siphoning off funds meant for developmental works in the river island.

Jorhat SP Parasar said Hatimota,who belonged to the river island where Ghose was abducted and murdered in July 4,1997,had arrived in his village a few days back when the police tracked him and arrested him. There is however no new significant crimes in which he was involved in the recent time, Parasar said. Of the 11 militants the CBI named in its chargesheet,five were killed in encounters with security forces. Two militants are serving life sentences while three others including ULFAs armed wing chief Paresh Barua are still absconding.

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