Ulfa assistant publicity secretary Ruby Bhuyan (left) with Khagen Sarma, inspector-general of police in the special branch of Assam Police, in Guwahati on Monday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, Feb. 28: The man behind the famously intriguing name ?Ruby Bhuyan? on most Ulfa statements relayed through email today surrendered to the police in the Assam capital.

Nipul Kumar Barthakur, alias Sumon Barua, was the media?s link with the outfit for a long time now and always identified himself as Ruby Bhuyan. He used to email Ulfa statements from his Yahoo ID.

Barthakur surrendered before inspector-general of police (special branch) Khagen Sarma at the headquarters of the unit. The reason for giving himself up to the police was apparently an ?ideological rift? with the Ulfa leadership.

The Ulfa functionary joined the outfit in 1988 and started editing the outfit?s mouthpiece, Freedom, in 2000 with the pseudonym Ruby Bhuyan. The female name evoked curiosity in the media and the security establishment about ?her? identity.

Barthakur said he created the email ID when he was operating from an Ulfa base in Bangladesh.

Sarma described the surrender as a major blow to Ulfa, considering Barthakur was one of the key strategists of the outfit and was liaising on its behalf with organisations such as Amnesty International. He had direct access to Ulfa?s top leadership.

The surrendered Ulfa activist, who was promoted to the rank of ?lieutenant? in 1999, took over all publicity-related tasks in 1996.

Barthakur said the Ulfa committed some blunders after the military operation by Bhutan against militant groups that had set up camps there. This, he said, further alienated the militant group from the people. ?I expressed my displeasure openly when a schoolteacher, Jiten Das of Tantan High School of Ratanpur in Chaygaon under Kamrup district, was killed by two Ulfa cadre on May 10 last year,? he said.

The former publicity chief said he insisted that Ulfa apologise to the people for the ?blunder? committed by ?irresponsible cadre?. He said the Ulfa-triggered blast in Dhemaji on Independence Day last year was the final blow to its ideology. Barthakur said he revolted against the outfit?s leadership and quit in September.

The IGP said Barthakur contacted him about a fortnight ago, expressing his desire to surrender. The surrendered rebel had been in touch with the police officer through ?others? for a few months before directly contacting him.

Sarma quoted Barthakur as saying that the entire Ulfa leadership had been reduced to a ?one-man show? centering around commander-in-chief Paresh Barua. The surrendered rebel was close to Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa.

Another Ulfa member, Chandan Borah, surrendered in Jorhat a few days ago and was brought before the media today. He narrated how he and 15 more members of the outfit were taken from Bangladesh to Pakistan in June 2003 for training in the use of programmable timer devices.