Guwahati: NDFB (R) supremo Ranjan Daimary, sentenced to life in prison for serial bomb blasts in Assam in 2008, was on Saturday released on interim bail from the Guwahati Central Jail and taken to New Delhi for participation in Bodo peace talks with the Union government.
A specially constituted division bench of the Gauhati High Court had on Friday granted him interim bail for four weeks, following which he was released from jail and escorted to Lokopriyo Gopinath International airport enroute to New Delhi, Daimary's lawyer Manas Sarania told reporters.
The NDFB (R) chief was asked to pay a surety of Rs 50,000 and the government directed to make adequate security arrangements for his travel, Sarania said.
"The bail application was filed to facilitate Daimary's participation in the peace talks between the Centre and various National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) factions," he said.
Daimary was sentenced to life imprisonment along with nine others for their involvement in October 2008 bomb blasts, which claimed 88 lives and injured over 500.
The Centre is all set to sign an accord with the banned Assam-based insurgent group National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) on Monday, providing political and economic bonanza to the tribals, sans the outfit's key demand of a separate Bodoland state or union territory.
The tripartite agreement will be signed in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal by top leadership of the four factions of the NDFB, Joint Secretary in the Home Ministry Satyendra Garg and Assam Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna, a senior official privy to the development said.
Earlier this month, the NDFB(S) faction, led by B Saoraigwra, signed an agreement to abjure violence, following which the government suspended operations against the outfit.
The peace accord assumes significance as the Bodoland Territorial Council, formed under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution, is likely to hold its next elections in April.
The four factions of the NDFB, which will sign the pact, are led by Ranjan Daimari, Govinda Basumatary, Dhiren Boro and B Saoraigra.
Bodos had long been seeking a separate state, and several overground and militant groups carried out violent protests and demonstrations in Assam over the years in support of their demand.
Meanwhile, Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday clarified that no new village or area would be added to the BTAD under the new peace accord.
He also stated that the Centre would not upgrade the state's 'Bodoland Territorial Area Districts'(BTAD) to a Union Territory.
"The Centre has informed the state government that no Union Territory will be created or new areas be added to the BTAD, but the accord will ensure that the territorial integrity of Assam is maintained," he told reporters.
People of Assam should be rest assured that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah would not agree to the division of Assam, he stated.
"The Union government has taken the initiative to hold peace talks with the various stakeholders in the BTAD. The entire framework (of the accord) is being prepared by the Centre," the minister said.
"If a fresh Accord is signed in the near future, permanent peace will come to Bodoland and Assam's territorial integrity will also remain intact," Sarma added.
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