Day after, ULFA chief says he is still a free bird

ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa on Thursday claimed that reports of his "arrest" were aimed at creating confusion and "derailing" the peace process in Assam.

"I am speaking to you from the same location in Bangladesh from where I normally speak from. Those who say that I have been arrested are deliberately trying to create confusion. They want to derail the peace process in Assam even before it can begin," he told North East TV channel.

53-year-old Rajkhowa said, "They (people opposing him) don't want a political and peaceful solution to the problem. Such people don't want to take the peace process to succeed. Everytime we want to take the peace process forward such people spread wrong information".

Intelligence sources said that Rajkhowa had surrendered to Indian security forces in Agartala and taken to New Delhi by a flight from the Tripura capital late last evening.

Top government sources in New Delhi had said that Rajkhowa was picked up by sleuths of Bangladeshi security agencies and kept in a secured location in Dhaka.

National Security Advisor M K Narayanan said that if at all Rajkhowa is arrested, he would probably surrender first.