http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080109/jsp/frontpage/story_8759666.jsp
Assam poet held for Ulfa tilt A STAFF REPORTER *Guwahati, Jan. 8:* An Assamese poet whose verses speak of anarchic "oppressors" and the angst of the "oppressed" has been arrested on charges of penning seditious material for the banned Ulfa and mobilising opinion against counter-insurgency operations. Police were on 36-year-old Santanu Sarma's trail for three years, by which time he had oozed enough "revolutionary" lyricism to fill five volumes of published works. Sarma has yet to find a place among the cream of Assamese literature, but the allegation that he has been writing and editing material for Ulfa's mouthpiece, *Freedom*, looks set to give this unassuming, bearded youth publicity of the unwanted kind. Those who know him well vouch for his innocence, but Guwahati police say they know their man. A police team traced the poet to Malikuchi in Nalbari town last night and arrested him on the basis of a case registered at Fatasil Ambari police station. Additional superintendent of police (city) Debojit Deori said Sarma was on the "wanted" list since October 2004, when an arrested Ulfa conduit, Anil Mazumdar, named him as the lynchpin of the outfit's network in the city. "We arrested him on the basis of a confessional statement by Mazumdar, who was very close to him. Sarma has denied having any links with Ulfa and is being interrogated by senior police officials." Another police officer said Sarma was known for his "pro-Ulfa sentiments" and proximity to another poet in the outfit's ranks, the jailed central publicity secretary Mithinga Daimary. "Going by the information we have gathered, Sarma is close to Daimary because the Ulfa leader is also a poet and both of them hail from Nalbari district." Daimary writes poetry under the pseudonym Megon Kachari. His collection of verses, *Melodies and Guns*, was edited by Mamoni Raisom Goswami and released at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany in 2006. Sarma's published works include *Khetiokor Dekhot*, *Aranya Abhimukhe* and *Bishador Borokhunot Sarir Tiyalu*. A friend said Sarma was framed. "He is a very talented poet and writer, and has received awards for his poetry. We never noticed anything to suggest his involvement with Ulfa. I was shocked to hear about his arrest," an acquaintance said. Another friend said Sarma was framed. "To me, it appears to be a conspiracy hatched by some people with vested interest. I cannot believe this mild-mannered poet can collude with Ulfa." The police said Sarma might even have been involved in extortion of money for Ulfa, though they do not have any evidence of it. The main allegation against the poet is of being a vocal critic of anti-Ulfa operations. "He provoked people to hold demonstrations and protests against arrest of Ulfa cadre. He also instigated families of Ulfa members and conduits to move court and human rights organisations against the police and other security forces," the police said. _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
