June 24: Ulfa’s most potent military unit split today with two of its three companies announcing a unilateral ceasefire this evening.

Twenty-five members of the dreaded 28 battalion laid down arms before the army in Assam’s Jorhat district, soon after which the Alpha and Charlie companies announced the ceasefire. In another ceremony, 26 Ulfa members, mainly from the 709 and 27 battalions, surrendered at Tamulpur in Baksa district. Ulfa has four battalions, 28, 27, 109 and 709.

The state government has been making efforts to bring overground the 28 battalion that has been blamed for most of the deadly strikes in Assam in recent times, including attacks on Hindi-speaking people.

The hint of a breakthrough had come on Saturday when the battalion’s former commander, Mrinal Hazarika, was released from prison after he secured bail for the last of the 15 cases filed against him. Hazarika, once a self-styled captain, was arrested from Siliguri in May 2006.

Today, the two companies’ 15 leaders, including Hazarika, signed a statement announcing the ceasefire.

The ceasefire announcement comes close on the heels of the government issuing a secret memo to all superintendents of police restricting “unilateral action” against Ulfa. The memo was intended at paving the way for the peace process with the 28 battalion.

Efforts are also on to bring the Bravo company of the 28 battalion overground. Sources said B company commander Sujit Mohan and the present commander of the 28 battalion, Bijoy Das alias Bijoy Chinese, were also considering joining the group that issued the statement today.

Mohan had taken an early initiative on a truce but the two got unnerved by a sudden spate of encounters by the army in which some big names of the battalion died. “They suddenly became unsure of their own security and that of their families,” one of the sources said.

The two then fled to Myanmar, where Ulfa’s central headquarters is located.

“In response to the people’s desire for peace, we call upon our respected central executive as well as the Central and state governments to show their respect to the people’s wishes,” the ceasefire statement said.

The announcement was the culmination of a process that started with Hazarika writing a letter to the government from jail a few months ago, expressing willingness to broker peace.