Thirty-two militants, 16 of them from United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) laid down arms before the Army in Assam’s Tinsukia district on July 28. The others were from the Adivasi National Liberation Army (ANLA) and factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN)1. In Nagaland, at least five militants were reported killed in factional clashes between two rival factions of the NSCN at Dimapur between July 27 and 28.

Assam Tribune quoting an article entitled “When the Media Turns into Evil” by Sunita Paul in the portal Global Politician noted that ULFA partly owned Transcom Media of Bangladesh, the publisher of the Bengali daily Prothom Alo and the English daily The Daily Star. It pointed out that ULFA’s business interests were diverse – ranging from driving schools, nursing homes, hotels, garment export houses and operating deep-sea trawlers2.

• 1. “Ulfa rebels surrender,” Telegraph, July 29, 2008, at http://telegraphindia.com/1080729/jsp/northeast/story_9615465.jsp
• 2. “ULFA has stakes in Bangla media,” Assam Tribune, July 30, 2008, at http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=jul3008/at08