Assam: ULFA (I) spying case accused Manash Chaliha sent to 5-day Guwahati police custody

Guwahati: The kingpin of the ULFA-I spying case, Manas Chaliha was brought to Guwahati a day after his arrest in West Bengal on Sunday night.

Chaliha was arrested by a joint team of Assam Police and West Bengal Police on Saturday from a hotel in Alipurduar, where he has been lodged for the past several days.

Chaaliha was brought to Kokrajhar on transit remand.

On Sunday, Chaliha underwent a medical check-up in Kokrajhar, and then a team from the crime branch brought him to Guwahati.

Chaliha was produced before the court of the chief judicial magistrate of Kamrup Metro, which remanded him to five-day police custody. He has been kept at the Dispur police station for further investigation.

Chaliha's involvement came to light after a youth, Manas Borgohain, who was found spying in the ULFA(I) camp in Myanmar, named him as the mastermind behind planting Assamese youths as spies in the rebel outfit’s mobile camps.

Although Chaliha denied the allegations, several previous cases of fraudulent activities allegedly committed by him came to light.

In one such case, it has been alleged that Chaliha fraudulently siphoned off Rs 8.5 lakh from a businessman, and a case (no 1361/22) was registered at Dispur police station against him. He was arrested based on this old case.

He had allegedly duped several people for large sums of money in the name of his venture, Organic Majuli.

NRI people were also caught in his web of deception.

Chaliha had been absconding after police reopened the old file. On his way to Guwahati from Golaghat, Chaliha took his vehicle from Jorabat towards Meghalaya and then through Goalpara via Garo Hills.

Chaliha's name came to light after a video was shared with media by the ULFA-I where an alleged police spy identified as Manash Borgohain disclosed that he had been recruited as a spy by Chaliha.

In the video, the alleged spy Manash Borgohain was seen claiming that Chaliha was the zonal head of the police's Special Branch and was engaged in recruiting men and women for spying on the ULFA-I camp. Borgohain had claimed that he had personally known Chaliha as both their girlfriends were mutual friends. Manash Borgohain had also claimed that Chaliha was engaged in giving training to the women recruits in honey-trapping ULFA-I leaders at the camp.

Chaliha had shared a video on social media claiming that he had been dragged into the controversy and that he was an organic farmer. He also claimed that he is not connected to Manash Borgaohin in any way.

The Assam Police has claimed that Manash Borgohain is not a police spy and also Manash Chaliha is not associated with the administration in any way.

The ULFA-I on February 1 released a letter questioning Assam police for not taking any action against Manash Chaliha.

In the letter, the outfit stated, "We have noticed that Chaliha made some serious allegations and insulting remarks against the ULFA (I) chief through his Facebook live yesterday and this will surely be considered." Further, the outfit in its letter stated neither the ULFA (I) chief nor any member of our organization has telephoned Manash Chaliha and there is no need to do that.

The ULFA-I on January 28 released a confessional video of Manash Borgohain, one of its members who has been suspected of spying.

The video, shared on YouTube, showed ULFA-I leaders announcing the arrest of Manash Borgohain alias Mukut Axom for 'breaching' the outfit's Constitution.

Following his arrest, Mukut Axom through a video message confessed that he was sent by Assam state authorities to spy on ULFA-I. He revealed his work with the Special Branch of Assam Police since 2021 and his involvement in a mission to monitor ULFA-I's activities.

In his confessional video, Mukut Axom said, “I have been working in the Special Branch of Assam Police and as a sub-inspector since 2021. My ID No is – IG8371963421. Through this Id no. you will be able to identify me as SB’s sub-inspector. I have been kept engaged in a special mission since being inducted into the Special Branch in 2021. Through that mission, I was directed to work against ULFA-I and keep a tab on the organisation’s activities. Through continued enactment and efforts to gain the trust of the members of the group, we were over some time able to gain the trust of the organisation.”

“Following this, I joined ULFA-I in November. It was my mission to join ULFA-I. There was no such ideology brainwashing before joining the outfit. It was completely a mission. I was made part of the mission by Manash Chaliha and Digambar Pandey while I was directed for the mission by GP Singh, Partha Sarathi Mahanta and Bhaskarjyoti Mahanta who was the DGP in 2021," he further said in the video.