ULFA-(I) Actively Carrying Out Extortion Drive In Upper Assam

Guwahati: The United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I) has reportedly initiated an additional drive to extort money from tea planters and businessmen in Upper Assam, despite Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s optimism that a peace agreement will be reached with them shortly.

It has been claimed that the management of various tea gardens, coal traders, lumber merchants, and other businessmen have received extortion notices from the ULFA(I)’s over-ground cadres.

This was carried out following a directive from Paresh Baruah, the leader of the prohibited insurgent group.

According to reports, the group has made important financial demands of the traders. It is learned that traders from Golaghat, Sivasagar, Charaideo, Dibrugarh and Tinuskia districts in Upper Assam are the ones to have received these notices.

Top ULFA(I) commanders allegedly called some of the traders and demanded money, reports claimed.

Many business owners have also told the police about the notices that they have received from the insurgent group.

The government of Assam and the insurgent group Dimasa National Liberation Army (DNLA)/Dimasa People’s Supreme Council (DPSC) recently signed a tripartite Memorandum of Settlement in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in a significant step towards ending the Northeast insurgency by 2024.

CM Sarma expressed hope, stating that negotiations with the ULFA-(I) are ongoing and that the government has supplied a draught; but, if the draught is rejected, the matter may be postponed. He hopes that the peace agreement will be signed by the end of May.

The ULFA’s pro-talks group has acknowledged receiving the most recent proposal from the government but has stated that more dialogue is necessary. The administration has engaged in occasional negotiations with the pro-talks faction for more than a decade, but there has been little advancement. The chief minister asserts that meetings with the ULFA (I) side are not advancing peace negotiations.

The government’s commitment to moving the peace talks forward has been questioned by the pro-talks ULFA side, who claim that there has been no communication for the past two years and that there is no government representative to lead the process.