Mystery over Moran arrest report

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

New Delhi, Dec. 4: The mystery over reports of Ulfa leader Jiban Moran and an Indian journalist being in custody of the Myanmar army continued today, as there was no confirmation of their whereabouts.

Union home secretary R.K Singh yesterday said the government has information about the detention of the journalist and Moran.

On Sunday, however, there were conflicting statements.

One report suggested that the journalist, along with an Ulfa leader (not Moran), were in custody of the Myanmar army in Tamu town, close to Moreh in Manipur. Another version suggested that the journalist was in custody of the Myanmar army across Mon district in Nagaland.

"We have been told that the journalist is physically safe but Moran may not have been arrested because an interception was made of a conversation of him today," said a government source on the India-Myanmar border. "Paresh Barua has not been arrested," a ministry of home affairs source said.

The ministry of external affairs spokesperson, Vishnu Prakash, said they did not have information about the incident.

The lack of communication in Myanmar made the matter more complicated as military intelligence, Intelligence Bureau and RAW were understood to be working on their channels across the border to find details.

The journalist had apparently crossed the border in order to interview Barua.