Jailed ULFA leaders are old tigers: APW

Guwahati, Jul 25 (UNI) Terming the senior jailed ULFA leaders as "old tigers", Assam Public Works (APW), an anti-ULFA group, today said these leaders were being allowed to languish in prison as they have become liabilities for the parent outfit. '' The ULFA has no use of its leaders who have been in jail for long and are not needed in their Bangladesh or Myanmar camps,'' APW director Abhijit Sharma said.

Pointing to ULFA 'vice-president' Pradip Gogoi, who had been languishing in prison for the past eleven years, he said, '' If he wanted bail, as Mrinal Hazarika and Prabal Neog (both ULFA 'commanders') did, Gogoi could also have got it.'' Making a strong case for shifting Gogoi outside the state, Mr Sharma said, '' He and other senior jailed leaders are operating from the jail.'' He alleged that the ULFA was recruiting criminals through its network developed by the jailed leaders.

'' They are like old tigers, who have been left to feed on the government money,'' he added. The APW leader slammed the ULFA 'c-in-c' Paresh Barua and 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa for failing to respond to the peoples desire for peace. He said, '' The ULFA was formed to fight the Bangladeshis and now they have become patrons of these very illegal infiltrators. The ULFA leaders surely cannot gauge the people's sentiments and problems by living in Bangladesh,'' Mr Sharma added.

The APW, formed by kin of ULFA leaders and the outfit's victims, will organize a rally in Guwahati on August 13 and a public meeting in Goalpara on August 24.

ULFA pro-peace leaders would be felicitated in the Goalpara meeting, which is expected to witness about 50,000 people participation.

UNI SG KK KLC1710