Tapan Baruah ( Assamese: তপন বৰুৱা) (real name Madan Das) was the first Commander of 28th Battalion of ULFA. Killed on 20 May 2002, Tapan Baruah was widely known as a skilled hardcore militant in guerrilla warfare in the outlawed

United Liberation Front of Asom The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) (Assamese: সংযুক্ত মুক্তি বাহিনী, অসম) is an armed separatist organisation operating in the Northeast Indian state of Assam. It seeks to establish an indep ...

. According to conflict analysists Tapan Baruah was trained in Kachin of

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. Tapan Baruah was also ULFA's Action Group Commander.

Biography

Born on 16 February 1972, Madan Das joined the ULFA in 1988 while studying at

Nalbari College Nalbari College is in Nalbari, Assam, India. It was founded in 1945. The college is affiliated to Gauhati University and recognized by University Grants Commission (UGC). Since its inception, the institution imparts higher education to the e ...

. He studied at the Debiram Pathsala High School in Nalbari district, and was 1986 HSLC pass out of the school. Tapan Baruah attended

for his

pre-university According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), basic education comprises the two stages primary education and secondary education, lower secondary education. Universal basic education Basic education featured heavi ...

course but didn't attend the exam an joined the ULFA. After joining ULFA, he became a close aide of the outfit's Commander-in-Chief

Paresh Baruah Paresh Baruah, also known by ''aliases'' Paresh Asom and Kamruj Zaman Khan, is the army chief of the ULFA, which is seeking Independence for Assam from the Indian Union. He is the vice-chairperson and the commander-in-chief of the United Libe ...

. Tapan Baruah and was very soon promoted as one of the dreaded commanders. In 1998, he was assigned the task of the commander of the 28th Battalion of the outfit. With his politeness Tapan was popular in his locality before he joined the outfit.

Major Assassination

Tapan Baruah and Drishti Rajkhowa are believed in involvement in the bombing & killing of Assam Minister Nagen Sharma in 2000. In 2001, the then Assam's

Director-general of police A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

Harekrishna Deka Harekrishna Deka (born 1943) is one of Assam's contemporary writers whose excellence in multiple genres is well attested by his works as well by the influence he has had on generations of readers and creative practitioners—his assured style an ...

, said in an interview that the killings in upper Assam had a clear command of Tapan Baruah, while the killings in lower Assam were commanded by

Raju Baruah Raju Baruah ( Assamese: (ৰাজু বৰুৱা) (real name Hitesh Kalita), alias Anees Ahmed, is the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, the Chief of military operations, military spokesperson and the head of the near-autonomous ' Enigma Force' of t ...

Death

On 20 May 2002, Tapan Baruah was surrounded in Talpothar Majhgaon of Kakopathar by hundreds of Indian Army personnel following an intelligence input. At that time, approx morning 11 AM, he was on his morning meal in the house of Rebati Dhadumia, while he was surrounded without his knowing. While army personnel's position was known to him, he tried to flee away but it was too late. He tried to flee out running more than 1 km, but was wounded with bullets shots fired by dozens of Army. Within half an hour, he collapsed and was declared dead. Some sources alleged that Tapan Baruah was shot in cold blood. According to Assam police, the death of Tapan Baruah was a massive success for the security forces. Soon after the killing of Tapan Baruah, several Assamese newspapers published news and reports glorifying Tapan Baruah. Some newspaper added citation of the ULFA's Operation Commander

and Foreign Secretary Shashadhar Choudhury's statement as follows:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baruah, Tapan ULFA members 2002 deaths Assamese nationalism Insurgency in Northeast India People from Assam 1972 births People from Nalbari Nalbari district

Biography

Major Assassination

Death

See also

References