Bhutan worried as ULFA men out on bail

Sources told The Indian Express that Thimphu has conveyed its unhappiness over the release of ULFA leaders,particularly those handed over by Bhutan to India,through official as well as diplomatic channels.

One of those handed over to India by Bhutan was ULFA ideologue Bhimkanta Buragohain. Arrested in January 2004,he came out of the prison on December 5. Thimphu is also believed to have handed over Baruah discreetly to India in December 2009,though the official version is that he was “arrested” near the India-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya along with Rajkhowa.

Last year,the Bhutan government,particularly Army Chief General Baboo Tshering,had sounded out India specifically on Baruah as the ULFA had vowed to target the Himalayan kingdom for the destruction of at least 14 of its camps in the December 2003 military operation in Samdrup Jongkhar,across the Manas forests in Assam.

General Tshering is said to have written a letter to Commander,Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT),Thimphu and New Delhi,alerting them to the danger of releasing those ULFA leaders who were active in south Bhutan. The matter had also been taken up with the Ministry of External Affairs.

While Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has gone public stating that there is going to be no let-down in operations against the ULFA,security forces were asked to stand down in the Tin Sukhia forests in 2005 just before the 2006 Assembly elections.

It is alleged that the ULFA tacitly helped the Congress win at the time and,according to some,a repeat is being played out now.