NEW DELHI, August 14: Refusing to ``officially'' accept the death of social activist Sanjoy Ghose, the government has asked the Assam government to ``diligently'' pursue investigations into his kidnapping.

Home Minister Indrajit Gupta told the Lok Sabha that since Ghose's body had not yet been recovered, the government could not declare him dead in the strict legal sense.

Condemning Ghose's abduction in the strongest terms, Gupta described the action of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) as a ``naked attack on democracy, civil society and people's right to organise themselves for their own betterment.''

The Home Minister quoted the self-styled ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Barua as stating that Ghose had been kidnapped, was in ULFA custody and would be punished as he was a ``RAW informer''.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.