Guwahati, Dec. 26: Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and deputy commander-in-chief Raju Barua were today sent to judicial custody after 21 days in police custody.
The remand order was passed by chief judicial magistrate Robin Phukan, who heard the case at a camp court inside the Central Jail here. The police did not seek custody of the two Ulfa leaders today.
Raja Bora, another Ulfa militant who was produced in the camp court along with the two leaders, was sent to Dibrugarh where he will be produced before the CJM court in connection with a case (2/05) registered at Joypure police station.
This will be the first time that the two Ulfa leaders will be separated from their family members after being arrested from the Indo-Bangladesh border in Meghalaya on December 5.
The family of the two leaders and the wife of Ulfa foreign secretary Sasha Choudhury are under the custody of Assam police. However, no cases have been registered against them. Rajkhowa had told his brother Ajoy Rajkonwar at the camp court in the Central Jail on December 18 that the police were allowing him to stay with his family.
Tight security arrangements were made in front of the Central Jail today with senior police officials present at the entrance to stop any untoward incident. A person by the name of Champak Deka distributed leaflets appealing for talks between Ulfa and the government in front of the jail. However, the police said there was no question of taking action against Deka as there was nothing derogatory in the leaflets and he did not have any link with any organisation.
With Rajkhowa and Barua being sent to judicial custody, the Central Jail here turned into a “hub” of Ulfa leadership as five leaders of the outfit’s central committee are already lodged there. The five are foreign secretary Sasha Choudhury, finance secretary Chitrabon Hazarika, vice-president Pradip Gogoi, publicity secretary Mithinga Daimary and cultural secretary Pranati Deka. Another leader of the central committee, political adviser Bhimkanta Buragohain, is lodged at the Tezpur jail.
Sources said Buragohain would soon be shifted to the Central Jail to make way for the Ulfa leadership to hold discussions to carry forward the talks process.
