Banned ULFA(I) leader Rupam Asom held from Assam-Arunachal border area

Dibrugarh (Assam), May 24 (PTI) A top leader of the banned ULFA (I), Rupam Asom, has been arrested from a forest area near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, police said on Saturday.

Arms and ammunition were also recovered from his possession, the officer said.

Rupam, who was allegedly running the proscribed outfit's extortion racket in parts of Assam, was named in the NIA charge sheet in the killing of Bordumsa Police Station officer-in-charge Bhaskar Kalita in 2018.

Rupam and his team have been hiding on the interstate border and carrying out extortion activities, the officer said.

"Rupam Asom is the main person in the extortion activities in eastern Assam. We had information that he and his team were hiding in a jungle near the Assam-Arunachal border. Accordingly, an operation was launched on Friday night, and he was arrested," the officer said.

The police have launched a manhunt in the bordering areas to trace and apprehend other members of the banned ULFA (I) group, he added. PTI CORR SSG BDC