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Over 40 young men and women are reported to have joined the gang in the last eight months, according to highly placed sources in the Assam Police.
Digital Desk: The United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent), or ULFA-I, a proscribed insurgent group in Assam, has experienced an increase in recruitments in recent months, according to ThePrint.
Over 40 young men and women are reported to have joined the gang in the last eight months, according to highly placed sources in the Assam Police. In comparison, the total number of workers hired between 2017 and 2019 was 70.
Police officers, as well as Anup Chetia, general secretary of the ULFA's pro-negotiations side, told ThePrint that a variety of variables, including probable peace talks and unemployment, might be driving this increase in recruitment.
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“During Covid, there was no joining because of the lockdown. But after that, there was a big change. It is a matter of concern, but it is not alarming,” Additional Director General of Police (Special Branch) Hiren Nath told ThePrint. “It is likely that most of them will return in the next year or so. Of the 70-odd people who had been recruited by the rebel group between 2017 to 2019, 49 ended up returning.”
The ULFA-I, led by Paresh Baruah, is a group of the original ULFA whose stated purpose is the independence of Assam from India. It is suspected of causing a surge of violence in the Northeastern state, including kidnappings, homicides, and illicit operations. Anti-immigrant sentiment, a vexing issue in Assam, lies at the heart of its politics.
According to police estimations, ULFA-I has roughly 200 cadres, including the recent 40-odd recruits. Chetia, on the other hand, believes the true amount is likely to be higher.
Taking note of the spate of recruitments, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had told reporters Wednesday that “some youth joining the ULFA for the past two/three months has come to light”.
“We keep in touch with the parents of such young people and make them realise that their wards have not chosen the right path. Even after that, some youth have joined the ULFA. Such incidents worry us,” Sarma said. He, however, had denied links between the recruitments and the peace process.
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