How a former Assam DGP hired an assassin to murder editor Anil Mazumdar, reveals new book on ULFA

The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) is unparalleled in the history of insurgency in India due to its cross-border connections. 

Its extensive international network, which spans from Pakistan and Afghanistan to Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and China, is second only to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in South Asia.

"ULFA: The Mirage of Dawn" by Rajeev Bhattacharyya is a virtual autobiography of the separatist group as related by someone who knows it, as well as the society which spawned it, intimately.

The book delves into all the major episodes, delineates their causes and effects, and debunks interpretations about the movement that have gained currency over the years.

In one such instance, the author narrated how a former director general of Assam Police hired an assassin to murder editor Anil Mazumdar in Guwahati.

A former director general of Assam police hired a surrendered ULFA (SULFA) activist to assassinate editor Anil Mazumdar in Guwahati on 24 March 2009. 

After two weeks, the police chief hired another SULFA activist hailing from Nagaon to kill the assassin to eliminate all evidence. 

Also Read: How ULFA (I) chief Paresh Baruah survived four attempts on his life, still remains out of peace deal

The police chief has formed a group of loyal SULFA activists to engage in business in the Mumbai dockyard and also to garner government contracts and grab land in Assam. 

The CID was unable to make any headway in Anil Mazumdar’s case which prompted Gauhati High Court to hand over the case to the CBI following a petition by the victim’s wife. 

The CBI finally identified a SULFA activist Bijoy Phukan as the murderer of Mazumdar.

Who is Anil Mazumdar?

Anil Mazumdar was the editor of an Assamese language daily Aji, as he was returning from his office outside his home in Rajgarh he was shot dead by an unidentified armed man in 2009. His driver, Ramen Nath, and neighbours rushed him to a hospital, where Mazumdar was declared dead.

ULFA: The Mirage of Dawn is the never-before-told story of the outlawed separatist outfit from its inception in the early 1980s to the present when peace is being negotiated between a pro-talks faction led by Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and the Indian government. 

The book was successfully launched today at Press Club of India in New Delhi today. 

The panellists were former ambassador to Myanmar Rajiv Bhatia and Maj Gen ( Retd) Dipankar Banerjee who was also a consultant to the UN.