Extortion by SULFA members in Jorhat, two arrested

From a Correspondent

JORHAT, May 17: Two SULFA members, identified as Dimbeshwar Dutta (45), son of Tileshwar Dutta and a resident of Bosapathar, Boraguri village under Bhogdoi Outpost and Amrit Bora (43) alias Dhormo, son of Ratkanta Bora of No I Fesuwal Village under Lahdoigarh Outpost, were picked up and arrested on charges of extortion in the me of the banned militant organization ULFA (I) on Sunday. The raid to arrest the duo was conducted separately by a team of police of Jorhat Police station led by Sub Inspector (SI) Utpal Dutta.

Utpal Dutta told The Sentinel, “ Based on an FIR filed by a leading businessman of Jorhat and in reference to Jorhat PS case 999/15 U/S 384 IPC, RW Section 10/13 UAP (Unlawful Activities Prevention) Act, we arrested the two SULFA members after following their trail for almost a month. Incidentally, the first call of extortion to the businessman demanding Rs 25 lakh in the me of the banned ULFA started in the first week of April and thereafter repeated calls were made from the same phone directing the businessman to bring the ransom amount to a particular location on the outskirts of Jorhat.”

The arrested SULFA men were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court and were remanded to six days of police custody. The two have already confessed to have served the extortion demand in the me of ULFA and have additiolly disclosed to have first come over ground in the year 1993 surrendering before the then Deputy Commissioner BVP Rao in Jorhat.

However, noted businessmen and members of the Jorhat Chamber of Commerce have expressed concern over the involvement of SULFA members in extortion in the me of ULFA. Meanwhile, top police sources on condition of anonymity, have stated about investigating the matter to find out if the two arrested crimils were hired by ULFA to extort using the organization banner in return for a share of the extorted money.