Minors who planned to join ULFA-I
The minors who were picked up by Bordumsa police. Image credit - Northeast Now

Six minor students from Kujupather Sankardeva HS School under Bordumsa police station in Tinsukia district, who were allegedly planning to join the ULFA-, have landed in police net on Thursday evening.

The minor students, aged between 15 to 17 years, hail from Ritu Kathalguri, Kujupather and Miholiritu areas in Bordumsa.

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A police official said, โ€œThe minor students were preparing to join the ULFA-I after completing their final examinations. Based on specific information, a police team picked them up on Thursday evening.โ€

Also read: Myanmar-trained ULFA-I cadre Rupanto Moran netted in Changlang

The official said the police came to know about their plan to join the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) through online conversation between the recruiter for the rebel group and the minors on the social media.

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โ€œThough we had sufficient evidence to pick up the minors to prevent them from joining the banned outfit, yet we wanted them to complete their exams as it matters a lot for their future,โ€ the officer-in-charge of Bordumsa PS said.

โ€œWe were expecting them to reconsider their perverted design but they didnโ€™t and as such we detained them as a preventive measure,โ€ the police official said.

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The minor were picked up from their respective residences located in the easternmost part of Assam in Tinsukia district bordering Arunachal Pradesh.

Based on a suo motto case (78/19) has been registered against the six minors at Bordumsa PS and they were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, Tinsukia on Friday.

The police official said, โ€œThe Juvenile Justice Board will decided what step would be taken against the minors.โ€

The police have also recovered a flag from the possession of the minors.

According to sources, the minors are likely to be sent to the Observation Home for Boys, Jorhat, located at Lechubari.

A section of villagers blamed poverty-stricken life in the villages of the area as one of the causes of the minorsโ€™ plan to join the rebel group.

โ€œThey are hardly able to make their both ends meet and struggling hard for their basic amenities in life,โ€ a relative of one of the minors at Kujupather, told Northeast Now.

Laxman Sharma is Northeast Now Correspondent in Digboi. He can be reached at: [email protected]