Guwahati, Oct. 26: Ulfa ideologue Bhimkanta Buragohain alias Mama was today released from Tezpur Central Jail after spending more than seven years in various jails of the state.
Buragohain will now be taken to Guwahati Central Jail. He is likely to be released in a day or two after his one of relatives submits a bail bond. The court of the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) here had already granted bail to the Ulfa leader regarding one pending case and is awaiting submission of a bail bond.
“I feel good as I am free now. I have not been able to meet my people for a long time. I have met a few of my relatives today on the court premises and felt really good,” Burgohain, while talking to The Telegraph today over phone from Tezpur, said.
“I am happy that the process of releasing the jailed leaders of the outfit has started. However, our chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and other key leaders like Chitraban Hazarika and Sasha Choudhury are still inside the jail. I hope they are also released soon as the ongoing peace process can gain momentum only after the release of all the jailed leaders,” he said.
The Ulfa political advisor also hinted that the outfit was interested in extradition of its general secretary Anup Chetia, who is in a Bangladeshi jail now.
“As far as my knowledge goes the process of bringing back Anup Chetia has already been started,” Buragohain said, adding that release of all the jailed leaders would speed up the entire process.
His advocate Dulumoni Sinha said, “Two of Buragohain’s nephews — Anup Phookan and Kula Mahan Baruah — submitted the two surety bonds of Rs 25,000 each at the district and sessions court in Tezpur. He will be taken to Guwahati jail now, from where he will be released after submission of one bail bond.”
The Ulfa leader, who was arrested by the Royal Bhutan Army during Operation All Clear in 2003 and subsequently handed over to the Indian authorities, said he would like to go back to his house in Tinsukia district’s Kakopathar after his release.
Meanwhile, the counsel for outfit’s deputy commander-in-chief Raju Barua today moved fresh bail petitions in the Tada court here. Both the Tada and the CJM courts had recently rejected his bail petitions. While there are three cases pending against him in the Tada court, there is one case pending against Barua in the CJM court here. His advocate Pranab Das said the court had fixed October 28 as the date for hearing on the bail petitions.
