Guwahati, December 04 2009: Serious differences have developed in the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) top brass now with the outfit's Commander-in-Chief Paresh Barua on Friday demanding from ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa to clarify his "position" vis-�-vis his "surrender" to Indian authorities.

Paresh Barua dispatched an e-mail message to media houses today demanding that ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa should clarify his stand.

The ULFA's Commander-in-Chief's message came after the Border Security Force (BSF) disclosed that it had arrested Rajkhowa along with the outfit's deputy commander-in-chief Raju Barua and eight others.

On Friday, Paresh Barua purportedly called up a member of People's Consultative Group (PCG) and the executive editor of a vernacular daily reaffirming that ULFA would not compromise on the issue of sovereignty and that it was for "honourable talks" with the Centre.

"He (Barua) told me that the ULFA would not compromise on the issue of sovereignty," peacenik Hiranya Saikia told journalists in Guwahati on Friday.

"He called me on four occasions in the past 24 hours.

Today he told me that ULFA is for honourable talks," the executive editor Prasanta Rajguru quoted Barua as saying.

In the custody after his arrest, Arabinda Rajkhowa was understood to have told the authorities that he could not scale down from the outfit's demand of sovereignty.

This, sources here said, made the authorities to shelve the plan of giving him safe passage.

According to the reports, the arrested militant leaders are likely to be produced in the court on Saturday.

These ULFA leaders are wanted in a number of cases including the killings of Hindi-speaking people in Assam.

The mystery surrounding the whereabouts of Rajkhowa unfolded with the disclosure by the BSF that the ULFA leaders had surrendered at Dawki in Meghalaya along Indo-Bangla border in the morning.

"Our personnel observed the movement of the group on the Bangladeshi side in the wee hours and challenged them.

The group then offered to surrender," a spokesman of the BSF said.

The surrendered ULFA militants included Rajkhowa, his wife Kaberi Kachari, their son Gadadhar Rajkhowa and daughter Kanchan Bhagiraj Konwar, deputy commander-in-chief Raju Barua, his wife Nirola Neog and their 10-month-old son, Rajkhowa's body guard Raja Barua, ULFA foreign secretary Sasha Choudhury's wife Runumi Choudhury and their son Sisir Choudhury.

All the arrested ULFA leaders have been kept at the Assam Police guest house in Guwahati.

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