Guwahati, Nov. 30: Dispur is considering moving Nagaland and the Centre over the “existence” of Ulfa camps in the neighbouring state’s Mon district after verifying the claims of an arrested militant.

Ulfa “sergeant” Mina Gogoi told interrogators after being arrested from Assam’s Sivasagar district on November 26 that the outfit was running three camps with over 100 cadres in adjacent Mon district, bordering Myanmar, with the help of the NSCN (Khaplang).

She also said the outfit paid a few Nagaland businessmen who frequently came to Assam to ferry goods to the camps and that Myanmar- based senior Ulfa leaders often visited these camps.

Sources in the chief minister’s office told this correspondent today that Dispur had taken Mina’s disclosures “very seriously” and would like to seek Nagaland’s co-operation in taking appropriate action against businessmen who were helping the outfit in that state.

“Since it has come from an Ulfa member, we need to get to the bottom of things. We are verifying the disclosures. We will be moving the neighbouring state and the Centre after getting a detailed report from the district given the sensitive nature of the revelations,” a highly placed official said.

A senior police official said they had taken up the issue with the Assam Rifles deployed in Mon but declined to divulge details.

Sources said Ulfa was known for its proximity to the NSCN (K) and often used Nagaland as a transit route after carrying out operations in Assam, which was primarily serving extortion notes to businessmen living in the border areas.

They also escape through Nagaland during counter-insurgency operations in Assam.

The Peoples’ Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam, a conglomeration of 28 organisations, today asked the Ulfa leadership to come forward for a political settlement.

The committee made the appeal following its recent visit to New Delhi and a meeting with home minister P. Chidambaram on resumption of the peace process with the rebel outfit.

“During our meeting on November 25, the Union home minister told us that the Centre was ready to hold a political dialogue and asked us to appeal to Ulfa to come to the negotiation table,” PCPIA chief co-ordinator Lachit Bordoloi said.

Bordoloi said the signal was positive from the government and Ulfa and added that the Ulfa top brass wanted a political solution to the problems from a position of dignity and equality.