Manipur Muslim separatist leader arrested in Guwahati

GUWAHATI - A top separatist leader of Manipur was arrested by security forces in Assam’s main city of Guwahati Thursday while on a specific mission to recruit cadres to carry out operations, officials said.

A police spokesperson said the arrested rebel leader Mohammed Raihanuddin is the self-styled commander-in-chief of the outlawed People’s United Liberation Front (PULF), a Muslim-based rebel outfit active in Manipur.

“Based on specific intelligence that the PULF leader was in the city and would be visiting a certain locality to meet some people, security forces stepped up a search operation and managed to capture him unchallenged from Guwahati’s Athgaon area,” a police official said.

Police recovered two hand grenades from a bag carried by the PULF leader, besides several documents, including extortion demands.

“The PULF leader was in the city for some time with a specific mission to recruit some people in Guwahati to look after their operations, mainly to carry out extortions from people here who have business interests in Manipur,” the official said.

Two more people were also picked up along with Raihanuddin.

“We have not arrested the other two people, but are questioning them about any direct role they might have with the PULF leader,” the official said.

Police said the arrested leader belongs to PULF’s Azad faction with the outfit split into groups, although their objectives are the same - seeking to safeguard the interests of the minority Muslim community in Manipur and carving out an Islamic country in the northeast through an armed struggle in collaboration with other Islamist fundamentalist groups.

Extortion targeting the civilian population and traders in its areas of operation constitutes the major source of funding for the PULF.