Guwahati, July 12: A rights activist caught ferrying grenades and RDX meant to be used by militants has become the police’s ammunition against the Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti and two other organisations that allegedly tilt towards Ulfa.
Shyam Sarma, the general secretary of the Darrang unit of MASS, was arrested yesterday along with an accomplice while bringing a cache of explosives smuggled in from Bangladesh — eight grenades and 18 RDX sticks — to the capital city.
The police said Sarma’s arrest at Morajan, under Rangia police station of Kamrup district, was just the tip of the iceberg.
Apart from MASS, the police suspect the People’s Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam and the Asom Chatra Yuva Organisation of being Ulfa’s link with the mainstream. Both organisations were formed around the same time to allegedly mobilise support for the militant group on the pretext of campaigning for peace.
“Their main work is to canvas for Ulfa and try to create law and order problems whenever a militant is killed by the police by proclaiming him as an innocent. They also work as recruitment agents for the outfit,” a senior police official said.
The police are certain that the explosives that Sarma and his accomplice Dipul Deka were ferrying to Guwahati were meant for a joint strike by Ulfa and jihadi groups in the city. Sarma was allegedly an active member of the 27th Battalion of Ulfa.
Leaders of MASS today tried to distance themselves from Sarma, saying he left the organisation a few months ago. Secretary general Lachit Bordoloi, who is also the driving force behind the committee for peace initiatives, told the media that it was improper to defame an organisation on the basis of the conduct of one or two members.
The police argued that Sarma’s arrest was not an isolated incident involving MASS. “We have arrested MASS members for their Ulfa link before. Just watch out for more arrests of leaders of not only MASS but also two more organisations. As I mentioned, they will soon be in our net,” the official said.
On whether these organisations would be banned, the official said such a step could be counter-productive. “ Banning will only give them the chance to make more noise to garner public sympathy.”
