Release of Anup Chetia to give impetus to peace process in Assam

Assam, Jan 11 (ANI): On November 24, ULFA general secretary Golap Baruah alias Anup Chetia was released from Guwahati central jail after 18 years of incarceration in Bangladesh and prisons in India. The court had granted him bail in the last of the four cases registered against him. Soon after the release, Chetia apologized for the 2004 Independence Day blast in Dhemaji, Assam. Thirteen people, including 10 school children, died in the incident. Chetia has pledged to never to take up arms and said he will join the ongoing peace process. The ULFA general secretary was detained in Bangladesh in 1997 for illegally entering the country using a forged passport, and was found in possession of arms and foreign currencies. On November 11, 2015, Bangladesh handed over top ULFA leader Anup Chetia to India's Central Bureau of Investigation and he was brought to Guwahati on a transit remand. The release is seen as breakthrough in the ongoing talks between Ulfa, the Centre and state government. However, Paresh Baruah, who is the head of military wing of ULFA, is continued to oppose to any peace talks. Experts believe the exclusion of the Baruah faction hinders the peace process. In the last few decades, Assam has witnessed violence perpetrated by Ulfa.