NCP leader PA Sangma today met Ulfa 'foreign secretary' Sasha Choudhury in the central jail here and held talks on steps to take the peace process forward.
"We had positive discussions regarding talks. I conveyed to them the need for peace and that now the initiative should come from their side," the former Lok Sabha speaker told reporters outside the jail where Choudhury was currently lodged.
"I shall inform the Union home minister P Chidambaram about the nature and outcome of my discussions and also with chief minister Tarun Gogoi on this issue," Sangma said but refused to divulge further details or the motive behind his meeting the Ulfa leader.
Sangma's meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of the release of Ulfa 'vice-chairman' Pradip Gogoi and 'publicity secretary' Mithinga Daimary with the government not opposing their bail applications.
The shifting of Ulfa ideologue Bhimakanta Buragohain from Tezpur Jail, where he was lodged since his capture during Operation All Clear by Bhutan Army in 2003, to the Guwahati Central Jail on February 21 last is also being viewed as a step to facilitate the peace process.
Choudhury, along with the group's 'finance secretary' Chitraban Hazarika, was caught in Bangladesh and handed over to Indian authorities in November last. Both are also in Guwahati Jail month along with Ulfa 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa and 'deputy commander-in-chief' Raju Barua.
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