Indian rebel leader surrenders, peace talks may begin soon

New Delhi - The leader of a powerful separatist group operating in India's north-eastern state of Assam surrendered to authorities at the border with Bangladesh Friday, paving the way for peace-talks with the militants, news reports and officials said. Arabinda Rajkhowa, chairman of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) along with Raju Baruah, the group's deputy military chief, a bodyguard and seven family members surrendered at the border post of Dawki in the north-eastern state of Meghalaya, officials from India's Border Security Force said.

Indian media reported that the ULFA leaders were arrested by Bangladeshi authorities but Indian officials maintained they surrendered as the neighboring countries do not have an extradition treaty.

"The group was roaming the border area. They later contacted officials at the outpost saying they were from the ULFA and wanted to surrender," a BSF official said.

The ULFA, Assam's biggest separatist movement, has been fighting for an independent homeland since 1979. More than 15,000 people have lost their lives to the insurgency in the past decade.

ULFA leaders have been residing in Bangladesh since the Indian army launched an offensive against them in Assam in the early 1990s.

Official sources told the NDTV network that 53-year-old Rajkhowa had begun discussions with Indian intelligence officials on the modalities of peace-talks.

Rajkhowa and his associates will not be charged with major crimes and be granted safe passage once the peace talks begin, Indian officials said.

The ULFA is under pressure as its leadership is split and key leaders are in prison.

Recently, two ULFA leaders, "foreign secretary" Sasha Chowdhury and "finance secretary" Chitrabon Hazarika were arrested in Bangladesh and handed over to Indian authorities.

ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Barua who is still at large and believed to be hiding in a South-East Asian country has been opposed to the talks process.

ULFA mediator and Assamese novelist Indira Goswami said durable peace was not possible without the ULFA supremo joining the talks.

"Peace in the long-run is impossible without Paresh Barua," she told the NDTV.

"He has everything, the weapons, the money. It is he who controls (the outfit)".

"If he is left alone then enemy nations might try to influence him. I request the state and the federal government to persuade him to join talks," she added.

Meanwhile, Assam authorities have sounded a security alert fearing a possible backlash by ULFA militants who are not in favor of talks with the government.

A government spokesman said army, police, and paramilitary troopers were deployed in strength in vulnerable areas, guarding vital installations like oil facilities, railway tracks and bridges, besides busy marketplaces.