By IANS
Guwahati : Nepal is turning out to be the latest sanctuary for separatists of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) with the outfit forging links with Maoist guerrillas in the neighbouring country.
The sensational revelations were made by Ghanakanta Bora and his wife Tulsi, both senior ULFA leaders, who surrendered to army and civil authorities Tuesday in eastern Assam's Tinsukia district.
"The ULFA have set up some bases in Nepal with the help of Maoist guerrillas and the outfit was preparing to shift a large number of cadres and leaders to the neighbouring country," a senior army commander told IANS quoting the couple.
The husband-wife duo, along with their five-year-old son Kiran Koirala, was based in Nepal before deciding to "shun the path of violence and join the mainstream".
"We have been in touch with Maoist groups in Nepal and procuring arms, ammunition, and explosives for the ULFA," Bora told journalists on the sidelines of the surrender ceremony.
The former rebel leader said the ULFA's think-tank decided to set up bases in Nepal after both Myanmar and Bangladesh tightened the noose on Indian separatist camps in their respective countries.
The ULFA, which had its bases in Bhutan until the military crackdown in 2003, shifted to Myanmar after the operations, while a number of their top leaders were reportedly sheltered in Bangladesh.
But there is a shift in the situation with both the military junta in Myanmar and the caretaker government in Dhaka deciding to crack down on Indian militant groups, prompting the ULFA to look for safe sanctuaries in the neighbourhood.
"The heat is on here in Assam with a full-scale offensive (military) currently underway and with Myanmar and Bangladesh now beginning to crack down, the ULFA is left with no other option but to relocate," the army commander said, requesting not to be named.
India and Nepal share a 1,800-km unfenced open border.
India's junior home minister Sriprakash Jaiswal last year quoted intelligence reports saying Maoist guerrillas were trying to set up bases in the country's northeast by forging links with Indian separatists, particularly the ULFA, a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland in Assam.