New Delhi, Dec 4 (IANS) Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh Sunday confirmed the detention of a top United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) functionary and an Indian journalist in Myanmar by its army the day before.
The ULFA functionary held by the Myanmarese army is Jibon Moran, he added.
‘We have information that Jibon Moran and an Indian journalist were detained in Myanmar. But we have no information about the detention of Paresh Barua (ULFA’s self-styled military commander-in-chief),’ R.K. Singh said, but did not identify or give details about the journalist.
Lt. Col. Moran, as he is known, is said to be the second-in-command of the hardline faction of the ULFA headed by Barua.
According to sources, the detained journalist was from a new Guwahati-based newspaper.
He is said to have travelled to Myanmar in a bid to interview Barua and the detention seems to have come about in that process.
After detaining the two, the Myanmarese authorities intimated the Indian government.
The journalist had posted on social networking sites that he was scheduled to interview Barua in Myanmar forested areas.
Intelligence inputs earlier said Barua was operating from a zone between Chengdu province in China and Kachin state in Myanmar. Moran and the journalist were reportedly detained in the eastern part of Myanmar, bordering China.
