Ulfa chief shot at in Myanmar

Paresh Barua

Paresh Barua, commander-in-chief of the United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa), has been shot at in the jungles of northwest Myanmar, reports Indian television channel NDTV yesterday.
The fugitive Ulfa leader is wanted by a Bangladesh court for his alleged involvement in the smuggling of 10 truckloads of arms in 2004.
Sources said Barua has been injured but has survived the attack by the Myanmarese soldiers.
He was with some rebels when he was detected and fired upon, they added.
The Assamese separatist group Ulfa recently began face-to-face unconditional talks with the Indian government in an attempt to usher in peace in insurgency-hit Assam. Its delegation met the home minister in New Delhi in February. The meeting was significant as it took place for the first time in Ulfa's 31-year history.
Its commander-in-chief and lone ranger Paresh Barua, however, was not present in the meeting. He is still at large issuing threats and carrying out attacks. He wants sovereignty as a pre-condition for talks.
The three decades of armed movement has witnessed the killing of several thousand civilians. The Ulfa, in a significant development earlier this year, admitted that all killings were wrong and declared that they were ready for formal unconditional talks with the government.
ARMS SMUGGLING
In Chittagong, a court on September 7 ordered the authorities concerned to publish an advertisement in two national dailies, asking Paresh Barua and another fugitive, Nurul Amin, to appear before it by October 3.
The court on June 29 issued an arrest warrant for Paresh Barua.
Barua is among the 11 newly charge-sheeted accused in two cases filed in connection with the 10-truck arms haul in Chittagong in 2004.
The 11 included former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami.
The arms produced in Chinese factory Norinco were to be transported to India for the Ulfa, Muniruzzaman Chowdhury, investigation officer of the two cases, told reporters after submitting two supplementary charge sheets before the court on June 26.
Two cases were filed--one for smuggling firearms and the other under the arms act--a day after 10 truckloads of arms and ammunition were seized at a jetty of Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Ltd (CUFL) in the port city on April 2, 2004.