Robin Handique was a founding member of the banned terrorist outfit ULFA in Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

. He was an arms and explosive expert who later became a chief advisor of the outfit along with Bhimkanta Buragohain

Bhimkanta Buragohain

Bhimkanta Buragohain , also called the Father of ULFA, is the political advisor and ideologue of the outlawed outfit ULFA in Assam He is also one of the founder leaders of the outfit. He was born in Kakopather in Tinsukia district of Assam in 1931...

. He was in charge of five camps in Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

 and also its Central Assam Commander for several years.

Arrest

He was captured along with top ULFA leaders including Buragohain, Amulya Chandra Rai alias Amarjeet Gogoi and Bolin Das alias Kamal Kachari during the Operation All Clear by Royal Bhutanese Army in December 2003. He was later handed over to the Indian authorities in Assam.

Death and its aftermath

Handique died of kidney failure on August 31, 2005 in a Tezpur hospital while in jail custody. But the outfit alleged that Handique’s death was due to slow poisoning by the authorities. Arabinda Rajkhowa

Arabinda Rajkhowa

Arabinda Rajkhowa , , alias Mijanur Rahman Choudhury is the Chaiman of the banned outfit ULFA. He is one of the founder members of the outfit. He was also the Vice-President of the Indo-Burma Revolutionary Front...

, the chairman of the outfit said that Handique had various ailments but was denied proper medical facilities. The outfit also called a 12-hour Assam bandh on September 8.

The Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) directed the Sonitpur District Magistrate to get the matter inquired into by a senior magistrate.

See also

• List of top leaders of ULFA
• Sanjukta Mukti Fouj
  Sanjukta Mukti Fouj
  Sanjukta Mukti Fouj is the military wing of the banned outfit ULFA in Assam, India. It was formed on March 16, 1996. It has three full-fledged battalions – the 7th, 28th and 709th with allocated spheres of operation in HQ- Sukhni, Tinsukia/Dibrugarh and Kalikhota respectively...
  
  
• Enigma Force
  Enigma Force
  Enigma Force or Enigma Group is an exclusive and near autonomous striking group of the banned outfit ULFA. It is known to a few top leaders of the outfit and the cadres were isolated from the others. It was designed for hit and run type of operations...
  
  
• 28th Battalion (ULFA)
  28th Battalion (ULFA)
  The 28th Battalion is the most potent strike group of ULFA, the banned terrorist outfit of Assam. It is also called as the Kashmir Camp. It has its Head Quarter in Myanmar. It consists of three companies – Alpha led by Moon Bora alias Jiten Dutta, Bravo led by Sujit Moran and Charlie led by...