Guwahati: Two journalists, who went to
Myanmar apparently to interview ULFA 'commander-in-chief'
Paresh Barua and are missing since October, are alive, Assam
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday said.
"They are alive, but more than that I do not have any
definite information," he told reporters here about the senior
journalist and the photographer of the Seven Sisters
newspaper.
"His (journalist Rajib Bhattacharya's) father Hiranya
Bhattacharya (a former IPS officer) had contacted me. We are
really concerned about the issue and taking all possible
measures," Gogoi said.
Asked to comment on the claim by ULFA that state Health
and Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was a former member
of the banned group, the CM clarified that "no
former militant is in" his ministry.
"They have woken up after 10 years. I have no knowledge
about it," he said about an email by the anti-talk faction of
the outfit sent by its 'publicity secretary' Arunudoy Dohotia
claiming that Sarma was a former member and the ULFA would be
proud if he became the CM in future.
PTI
First Published: Monday, December 12, 2011, 19:52