In Assam from 2011 till September 4 this year, more than 5,000 militants of ULFA and other insurgent groups were apprehended, but only one has been convicted. This extremist was convicted in 2012 in Lakhimpur district. No other militant has been convicted since then. Chargesheets have been filed against a total of 2,606 people. In most of the cases, the trial is going on.
The Assam Police arrested 5,202 cadres of ULFA and other extremist groups, including Bodo, Garo, Rabha, Karbi, tribal and Muslim communities, from 2011 to September 4 this year, the official document said. The maximum number of 2,392 arrested militants were from Bodo militant groups. 1,468 militants from ULFA and 582 from Karbi groups were arrested. Police have arrested 346 militants from tribal groups, 178 from Garo community, 155 from Muslim and 81 from Rabha communities.
Gauhati High Court advocate Shantanu Borthakur told news agency PTI that delay in punishment of an accused takes place in several stages and it is sometimes done deliberately. “Unless we know the date of arrest and the date of filing of chargesheet, it is difficult to know where exactly the delay is taking place,” he said. Many a times investigators deliberately delay investigations because many extremists get political patronage.
