BSF says ULFA leaders surrendered to them

The Border Security Force said on Friday that top United Liberation Front of Asom leader Arabinda Rajkhowa, another key militant and their families surrendered at the Dawki border outpost in Meghalaya early on Friday morning.

"Rajkhowa and others were seen near the border outpost and they surrendered to the BSF personnel," BSF Inspector General Prithvi Raj told PTI. The IG said that BSF personnel observed the movement of the group on the Bangladeshi side around 1:15 am and challenged them.

The group then offered to surrender and were handed over to the Assam police this morning, he said. They included 53-year-old Rajkhowa and deputy chief of ULFA's military wing 43-year-old Raju Barua. Others who surrendered included Rajkhowa's wife Kaberi Kachari, a leader of the ULFA's women's wing, the couple's daughter Kanchan Bhagiraj Konwar and son Gadadhar Rajkhowa, Barua's wife Nirola Neog and their 10-month-old son, Rajkhowa's body guard Raja Barua.

Runima Choudhury, wife of ULFA's self-styled foreign secretary Sasadhar Choudhury, and their eight-year-old son Sisir Choudhury also surrendered, the IG said. They were taken to Guwahati by road, he said.