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Paper no. 2129
9.02.2007
ULFA’s Involvement in Assassination Attempt on Sheikh Hasina - Bangladesh Monitor - Paper No. 5
By Dr. Anand Kumar
United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has been known for its terror activities in the northeastern state of Assam, where it claims to be fighting for the independence of the state. But recent disclosures have indicated that its terror acts are not limited to India only. It has been involved in a major terrorist activity in the neighbouring Bangladesh. It acted as a tool in the hands of certain political forces of Bangladesh who despise a major political alliance in that country led by Sheikh Hasina. Interestingly, ULFA also despises this alliance, though it rarely says so openly. In these circumstances, it is hardly surprising that the outfit made a common cause with the opponents of Hasina led alliance and tried to eliminate her in a public rally.
On August 21, 2004, a murderous attack took place on Sheikh Hasina while she was addressing a public rally in Dhaka. In this incident 23 people were killed. One of the victims was Ivy Rahman, a close associate of Sheikh Hasina. Sheikh Hasina herself narrowly escaped with some injuries.
It is widely believed that this attack had the sanction of former four party alliance. Without their support, it was almost impossible for the attackers to escape from such a huge gathering.
Though formally the four party alliance condemned the attack, it never made any serious attempt to investigate the case. The law enforcement agencies also played a dubious role. It has been alleged that the investigators have deliberately tried to destroy the evidence. They did not collect the pieces of evidence, including the unexploded grenades, which were vital for the investigation. Army explosives experts detonated two unexploded grenades--one found near the spot and another at the adjacent Gulistan Hawkers' Market--in the dead of night without taking fingerprints on them. They carried out a similar detonation of another grenade recovered from the Dhaka Central Jail a day after the attack. They also tried to hurriedly bury two victims.
The investigators attempted to submit the charge sheet of the case over a year ago basing on the confessional statement of Joz Mia, but the government held them back following the criticism from media which termed Joz Mia's story very weakly-woven. Twenty people were arrested after the attack but 17 of them were released as the allegation against them had "no merit". The rest three gave statements admitting their involvement in the attack. A Harkatul Jihad (Huji) operative also claimed last year that the Islamist militant group was behind the attack.
The one-member government judicial inquiry commission of Justice Joynul Abedin linked a foreign enemy with the attack but his report was not made public. The judicial inquiry commission claimed to have identified the perpetrators but its head declined to disclose their identity.
To give these investigations some semblance of authenticity the BNP led government tried to involve the Interpol and other international investigating agencies, but not before removing all the important clues.
Interestingly, the recent arrest of a ULFA commander has contradicted these earlier ‘findings.’ A report was published in the Bangladesh media on January 21 which stated that ULFA cadres operating from the country carried out the attack, with the help of intelligence officials of the then Zia government. A private news agency of Bangladesh BDNews24.com quoted Assam police intelligence chief Khagen Sharma as saying that a ULFA commander, Pallav Saikia, has confessed about the involvement of his group in attacking the Awami League rally. Saikia, arrested in Shillong on December 14, 2006, said that he led 11 men from his group. He reportedly said, "Some Bangladesh intelligence officials helped us plan the assault and even gave us the vehicles for the assault but I don't know these Bangladeshis."
Saikia further confessed that his group attacked the rally at the "explicit instruction" of ULFA military wing chief Paresh Barua. He revealed that the intelligence officials started interacting with him after Paresh Barua briefed Saikia on the mission on July 26 in a safe house in Gulshan in Dhaka. Saikia has also named everyone in the group, including the second-in-command, Rubul Ali, who accompanied him on the assault. Of the 11, six are still alive and operating for the ULFA but Rubul is dead, killed in an encounter with the Indian army in May 2006. Pallav Saikia is believed to be close to ULFA military wing chief Paresh Barua. He led a special unit of the group involved in high profile assassinations and acts of sabotage.
Confession of Saikia received further substance when a Bangla national daily also reported that former National Security Intelligence (NSI) chief Maj Gen Rezakul Haider Chowdhury assisted the ULFA in carrying out the attack on August 21 and Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) later in raising bomb attacks. The official was transferred and then dismissed from service earlier this month.
These disclosures have prompted the Awami League to ask the caretaker government of Bangladesh to take a fresh look in this investigation. Hasina's aide Obaidul Quader Choudhury said, "If former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, her son Tareq Rahman and former ministers Lutfuzzaman Babar, Moudud Ahmed and Nazmul Huda are interrogated, everything will come to light."
ULFA, however, has denied the allegation. ULFA spokesperson Ruby Bhuyan reportedly said, "Pallav Saika is either saying all this nonsense under pressure or he has been bought over and forced to say all this…we don't meddle in the politics of any other country, we are just fighting to liberate Assam from Indian control." ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa said, "We are not at all involved in any such attacks in Bangladesh."
The Bangladesh government has also said that it was not aware of the suspected role of ULFA in the grenade attack on Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina’s rally in August 2004. Acting Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain said, “I am not aware of it... If India conveys the matter officially, Bangladesh will look into it.” Hossain repeated Dhaka's known stand that there are no Indian insurgents living or operating on Bangladesh soil.
This denial of ULFA is with the objective of safeguarding its camps in Bangladesh. ULFA has been operating from its bases in Bangladesh for nearly last 15 years, irrespective of which party ruled the country. Hardly any action has been taken against the outfit.
Reports have indicated that ULFA is funding select candidates in the now deferred general elections in Bangladesh. It is providing money to certain candidates from a cross section of parties in the election expected to produce a stiff contest between the two main alliances led by the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and the Awami League. Intelligence sources say that it is partially funding at least 15 candidates, besides indirectly donating to party funds of a few major parties. Most of these candidates are also believed to be very close to the ISI.
It has been estimated that ULFA is pumping over Rs 300 million (nearly $6 million) in the polls. The self-styled commander-in-chief of ULFA, Paresh Barua, is one of the wealthiest leaders in the outfit. His personal earnings a year from business ventures in Bangladesh are staggering. The total assets of ULFA are valued at over Rs 5 billion. This includes several benami (illegally operating) companies. Barua, against whom Interpol alerts have been issued, also goes by the names of Kamruj Zaman Khan, Nur-uz-Zaman and Zaman Bhai in Dhaka.
Stakes for ULFA in the coming Bangladesh election is very high. The new government will have the authority to decide either to give shelter to ULFA leaders and cadres or to hand them over to India. ULFA fears that with Indian influence growing in Southeast Asia and with the US cooperating with India on many issues including terrorism, the possibility of the rebels being deported to India seems very real. ULFA expects trouble after the elections. Hence it is supporting a large number of candidates who can be helpful for the outfit once the election process is over.
This is not the only time ULFA has been involved in terror acts with the help of DGFI, the external intelligence agency of Bangladesh. Some analysts believe that the recent terror run of ULFA in Assam was a joint operation with DGFI. They claim that around December 28, 2006 top ULFA leaders and DGFI officials met at a safe house in Dhaka, and an operational task was charted out to create serious disruptions in Assam and in Siliguri to divert Indian attention from the election impasse in Bangladesh. About 10 trained DGFI special task force members infiltrated into Assam and teamed up with ULFA cadres to carry out the mass killings.
The infiltration of DGFI personnel into Assam is not a new development. To bolster sagging morale of local ULFA cadres and to deceive the Assam people, such special DGFI operators help ULFA cadres carry out spectacular actions. Some DGFI commandos are housed by Assam-based Muslim jihadi groups.
The role of ISI has also been significant in recent ULFA operations in Assam. Top ULFA leaders Paresh Barua and Arabinda Rajkhowa reportedly returned to Dhaka from a trip to Pakistan around December 20, 2006. Rajkhowa, who is trying to acquire an apartment in London with assistance of Dhaka-based ISI operatives, was pressurised to carry out the recent Assam task. Barua has reportedly bought apartments in Bangkok and London.
In the past, India has accused Bangladesh of providing sanctuary to ULFA rebels, who have waged a separatist campaign since 1979. Besides Paresh Barua, the outfit's self-style chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and another top-rung leader Anup Chetia are believed to be based in Bangladesh. Chetia, held and tried by a Dhaka court, served his full jail term but has not been handed over to India.
Conclusion
The interim Bangladesh government has stated that it is not going to shelter Indian insurgents. On February 4, the Bengali daily Ittefaq quoted a foreign ministry official as saying, “The eastern frontiers with India will be tightened further by the caretaker government to stop the activities of (Indian) guerrillas from inside Bangladesh. They will not be allowed to set up camps on Bangladeshi soil." The caretaker government has also reportedly stated that it will make sure that Anup Chetia, secretary general of ULFA, now serving a prison term in Bangladesh for illegally entering the country, is not allowed to spearhead insurgency from a Bangladeshi prison. A large number of reforms have been taken by the caretaker government of Fakhruddin Ahmed. It has cracked down on a number of corrupt political leaders whom nobody else dared to touch. It has also taken a bold decision of inviting an Indian company BHEL to build a power plant in Bangladesh. Probably, the caretaker government which has complete backing of the military, can also take some steps to remove a longstanding hurdle in the path of good Indo-Bangladesh relations by cracking down on the camps of these insurgent outfits. This would be in the interest of both the countries.
(The author can be reached at anandkrai@yahoo.com)
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