Guwahati, March 24: Paresh Barua-led Ulfa (Independent) today launched a scathing attack against the BJP's chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal, accusing him of using Ulfa cadres to kill Dibrugarh University student leader Saurav Bora on the university campus on May 27, 1986.
In an emailed statement, Ulfa (I) alleged that Sonowal was present when Ulfa cadres attacked Bora. The outfit also accused BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma of using its cadres to carry out "political murders".
In the statement, the outfit said many "so-called political leaders" like Sonowal and Sarma had used the group's cadres to carry out killings, like those of Bora, Congress leader Manabendra Sarma, journalist Kamala Kalita and social activist Sanjay Ghose, to gain political mileage.
The statement claimed that these killings were carried out without the consent of the outfit's commander-in-chief Paresh Barua.
Referring to Bora's murder case, chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday had also said that Sonowal had faced a murder charge.
However, in June 2012, Gauhati High Court had discharged Sonowal in the murder case.
A single-judge bench of Justice B.D. Agarwal had set aside a lower court order for framing of charges against Sonowal.
The court order stated that the CBI had rightly concluded (in its final report) that there was no material to proceed against Sonowal. It also ruled that general suspicion on the basis of hearsay evidence cannot justify framing of criminal charges.
In the statement, Ulfa (I) also accused former chief minister and AGP leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta of being the "vice-president" of the group that carried out "secret killings" in the late 1990s in which family members and sympathisers of Ulfa were killed by unidentified gunmen.
The killings took place during Mahanta's tenure as chief minister.
Ulfa (I) also criticised Sonowal for attending an election rally of Bhaskar Sarma, BJP candidate from Margherita constituency and a former member of the insurgent group.
The outfit had accused Sarma of being a traitor and alleged that he was involved in the "secret killings".
Ulfa (I) had earlier also warned the BJP not to field Sarma as its candidate but he still got a BJP ticket.
Dismissing the Ulfa (I) allegation, Sonowal told reporters this evening that he was given a clean chit by both Gauhati High Court and the CBI in the Bora murder case and firmly believed in democracy and the Constitution.
The Ulfa (I) statement had also claimed that the outfit had helped Sonowal become AASU president.
Pradip Gogoi, a leader of the pro-talks faction of Ulfa, questioned why Ulfa (I) was raking up old issues now before the elections. "Why were they silent for so long?" he asked.
"I am not aware about Ulfa playing any role in selection of AASU president since it is an internal matter of the students' organisation," Gogoi said.
Another leader of the pro-talks faction, Mrinal Hazarika, said today's Ulfa (I) statement appeared to be "politically motivated".
"The way they selected AGP and BJP leaders, it appears to be an attempt to help the Congress in the upcoming elections," Hazarika said.
Members of the United Regional Minority Council of Assam (URMCA) and CPI (M-L) today welcomed the Ulfa (I) statement.
A press statement issued by URMCA said "the Ulfa (I) statement has proved that Sonowal, Dibya Hash Goswami and some others were involved in the murder".
Local advocate Rituraj Baishya, when contacted, said the case against Sonowal could not be reopened merely on the basis of the Ulfa statement because there was no material evidence. Only if the CBI or the victim's family moved court with fresh evidence could reopening of the case be a possibility, he added.
