GUWAHATI: The Paresh Baruah faction of insurgent group United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) executed two of its members for reasons, including alleged spying.
The two – Lachit Hazarika alias Brigadier Salim Asom and Bornali Asom alias Nayanmoni Chetia – were killed on September 20, the ULFA said in a statement on Tuesday. The execution took place apparently on the soil of Myanmar where the outfit operates from.
Hazarika was a senior member and he hailed from northern Assam’s Lakhimpur district. Bornali, who was a boxer from upper Assam’s Tinsukia district, had joined the group in 2021.
When reports about the duo’s killing spread earlier in the day, the family of Bornali appealed to the ULFA leadership to clarify the matter and hand over her body if she was, indeed, awarded capital punishment.
“She went out one fine day (two years ago) telling us that she was going to play but never returned. There was no trace of her since and she also never contacted us,” the mother said.
The ULFA levelled 17 charges against the duo. The charges include that they helped Indian spy agencies, made colleagues surrender before enemies along with arms and ammunition after blackmailing them with the help of the outfit’s women members, and killed fleeing colleagues in fake encounters.
The other charges were that they destroyed weapons and radio sets of the organisation as part of a conspiracy after being influenced by police and army officers, caned junior colleagues over small matters without the approval of higher-ups, blackmailed women cadres for personal gain, shared the details of the secret routes, which the organisation uses for movement, with the enemies, inspired the new recruits to escape and made an attempt to take into confidence a large group of their colleagues to surrender before enemies.