Ulfa-I chief Paresh Baruah in a spot over desertions

Kolkata: United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I) chief Paresh Baruah, who has been tucked away in his safe haven in Myanmar, has finally started feeling the pressure of his crumbling militant outfit, Indian intelligence agencies have found following the reports of killings of some members of his banned organisation on his order in the neighbouring country recently.

Referring to the reports of some hundreds of militants’ plan to surrender to the Indian security forces which on their part have expressed their willingness to accept the move, intelligence sources told this newspaper that the ULFA-I is losing its lure and does not attract the youth anymore.

They revealed that largescale desertions are increasing in the militant group by the day which is why Paresh Baruah ordered the killing of his cadres who want to return to safety of the country and their families.

Monitoring the sudden development in the guerrilla outfit the central security agencies suspect that the idealistic goal of ‘liberating Assam from Indian colonial rule through an armed struggle’ has turned on itself.

Far from liberating Assam, it is killing its own with reports indicating that five cadres have been killed in the past two months for attempting to rejoin the mainstream, making it clear that the outfit seems to have nose-dived into an unethical practices, government sources analysed.

As extortion and ransom for kidnapping remain Paresh Baruah’s sources of income, the easy collection of money has led a number of youth from Assam up the garden path of no return, intelligence sources claimed, adding that hiding in Myanmar, the ULFA-I chief has turned into a weapon smuggler for most of the North Eastern insurgent groups.

Desperate to retain his relevance and milk the insurgency cow dry, he has turned on his own people now, intelligence sources disclosed.