Front Line expresses concern regarding the continued detention of human rights defender Lachit Bordoloi, who was arrested on 11 February 2008. Lachit Bordoloi is a journalist and adviser of Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti (MASS), an organisation working to defend civil and human rights in the Assam region. He is also the convenor of the Peoples Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam (PCPIA) and a member of the Peoples Consultative Group (PCG), an organisation set up to initiate peace discussions between the Indian Government and the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).

Further Information

Posted 18/02/2008 On 18 February 2008, the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Kamrup District remanded Lachit Bordoloi for a further two days in police custody in Chandmari police station, Guwahati. On 11 February 2008, at approximately 10.30 am, Lachit Bordoloi was arrested by Dibrugargh District police as he travelled by bus from Tinsukia in upper Assam to Guwahati. He had been in Tinsukia to attend a public meeting. He was brought to Moran police station where waiting Guwahati police personnel drove him back to Chandmari police station. Previously, on 9 February 2008, members of the Guwahati police raided the rented flat in Guwahati where Lachit Bordoloi's wife and daughter were staying alone while he attended the meeting in Tinsukia. Police personnel seized a laptop and other materials belonging to Lachit Bordoloi despite reportedly not producing a seizure form.

On 12 February 2008, Lachit Bordoloi was taken to the Chandmari police station, in Guwahati, where he was remanded for five days and charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act with “having a role in fund collecting for the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)” and under sections 120B and 121 of the Indian Penal Code for “waging a war against the State”. Lachit Bordoloi was reportedly arrested based on a statement given by one of two alleged ULFA members who were arrested on 8 and 9 February 2008. Police reported that the two alleged members were in Guwahati to try and hijack a plane and that they were being helped out by several prominent persons.

It is reported that police are now investigating the content of Lachit Bordoloi's emails as they claim that he has maintained relations with the ULFA "beyond permissible limits".

Front Line believes that Lachit Bordoloi was targeted and arrested due to his legitimate work in defence of human rights. Since 2001, he has reportedly experienced repeated harassment by the Superintendent of Police (SP) in the Nagaon district of Assam, following the publication of an article he had written in which he highlighted corrupt practices within the Nagaon Police Department. As a result of the article, a high level inquiry was carried out against the Superintendent of Police. Concern is expressed for the physical and psychological integrity of Lachit Bordoloi whilst in police custody.