ULFA (I) leader surrenders in Meghalaya

A prominent leader of outlawed insurgent outfit United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA-Independent faction), along with his four associates and a huge number of firearms, surrendered to the Indian army at Meghalaya-Assam-Bangladesh border, the Indian Defence Ministry said today.

"In a swift and well-planned operation executed by the Indian Army intelligence agencies at Meghalaya-Assam-Bangladesh border, dreaded hardcore ULFA (I) leader, self-styled Col Drishti Rajkhowa, along with four accomplices Vedanta, Yasin Asom, Ropjyoti Asom and Mithun Asom, surrendered, with a huge quantity of arms," reports our New Delhi correspondent quoting a statement issued by the ministry.

The operation to nab Drishti was based on confirmed inputs, which was a result of relentless pursuit for the last nine months, it added.

Drishti Rajkhowa -- belonging to the ULFA faction headed by its absconding chief Paresh Barua who demands an independent Assam -- has long been in the Indian security forces' wanted list of the ULFA insurgents responsible for their activities in lower Assam.

The defence ministry in the statement termed his surrender as "a major blow" to the underground organisation and "heralds a new dawn ushering in peace in the region."

Paresh Barua has been on the run for several decades and is believed by Indian security sources to be holed up in China near the border with Myanmar.