Tezpur (Assam): United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) ideologue Bhimkanta Burhagohain alias 'Mama', earlier believed to be dead in the 'Operation All Clear' by Royal Bhutan Army (RBA), would surrender to the counter-insurgency Unified Command GoC (General Officer Commanding in Chief) today (Dec 26, 2003) at the 4 Corps headquarters in Tezpur along with three other top ULFA leaders, an Army spokesman said.

Controversy arose over the septuagenarian Burhagohain with official reports claiming he had surrendered on the second day of the RBA onslaught, while media reports in Tezpur claimed that he had succumbed to bullet injuries and that his body was handed over to his family members.

A habeas corpus was also filed in the Guwahati High Court for his body to be produced if he had died.

The four ULFA leaders would lay down arms before 4 Corps GoC Lt Gen Mohinder Singh, the spokesman said but declined to divulge the names of the other three.

Burhagohain is the eldest ULFA leader and one of the seven founders of the outfit formed on April seven, 1979, at Rangghar in upper Assam's Sibsagar district.