GUWAHATI: Rishti Rajkhowa alias Manoj Rabha, the deputy military chief of the Paresh Baruah faction of insurgent group ULFA-Independent, has surrendered before security forces in Meghalaya.
An explosive expert responsible for many attacks and close to Baruah, Rajkhowa (50) surrendered along with four other members of the insurgent group, the police said.
“...Indian Army formation, deployed in Rangia (Assam) in close coordination with intelligence agencies, the Assam Police and Meghalaya Police, carried out Operation Malakand...which resulted in the surrender of...Drishti Rajkhowa alias Manoj Rabha, along with four other dreaded cadres...” a defence statement said.
Over the past many years, the security forces made several attempts to neutralise Rajkhowa, who had served as the “commander” of an ULFA battalion till 2011 when he first donned the deputy military chief’s mantle.
He mostly operated out of areas on the Meghalaya-Bangladesh and Meghalaya-Assam borders and planned and executed many operations by the extremist group in Lower Assam.
The security forces believed his surrender had dealt a heavy blow to the insurgent group.
A section of local media, however, reported that Rajkhowa was allowed to surrender by the ULFA’s top brass on humanitarian grounds as his wife has been diagnosed with cancer.