Aasu assistant gen secy among 5 held over Ulfa-I funding links

Dibrugarh: Tinsukia police have arrested five people, including the assistant general secretary of the Aasu and a Maharashtra resident with travel links to neighbouring countries, in a crackdown on a suspected inter-state and international terror funding network, officials said on Sunday evening.

The arrests followed intelligence inputs from a central agency, which flagged that extortion money collected from Tinsukia district was being systematically channelled outside the region.

Addressing a press conference, additional superintendent of police (headquarters) Mrinmoy Das and ASP (Crime) Dinesh Pratap Singh Rathore said investigations led authorities to Debashish Gohain, a journalist working with a news portal, whose name surfaced during the course of the probe. Upon interrogation, Gohain reportedly revealed that a substantial amount of money was transferred to the bank account of one Sheikh Bashir, a resident of Palghar, Maharashtra.

“This can be termed an inter-state and international terror funding case. Bashir frequently travelled to some neighbouring countries and the northeast. His financial transactions are also highly suspicious,” ASP Das said.

Bashir was subsequently arrested by Tinsukia police with assistance from Maharashtra Police and is set to be brought to Tinsukia for further questioning.

In addition to Gohain and Bashir, police have also arrested Deepu Chetia Patra of Jorhat, Mrityunjay Konwar of Naharkatia in Dibrugarh district, and Samar Gohain of Tinsukia, who serves as the assistant general secretary of the All Assam Students’ Union (Aasu).

ASP Das said money had been deposited into several other bank accounts across multiple states, and Tinsukia police teams have been dispatched to those locations to pursue the financial trail.

Police sources said the funds deposited in the accounts were extortion money collected on behalf of the banned outfit Ulfa-Independent (Ulfa-I), with instructions allegedly coming directly from Ulfa-I chief Paresh Baruah to route the funds into the accounts of Bashir and others.

ASP Rathore confirmed that the accused have been booked under multiple sections of BNS, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Explosive Substances Act and the Arms Act.

The Ulfa(I) in a statement said that the arrested persons are in no way associated with the outfit’s financial affairs and dismissed the Assam Police allegations as false and baseless.