Guwahati: The ULFA has demanded to know the whereabouts of its senior members missing in the Bhutan Army operation against ULFA camps in that country last year in exchange for the release of the Assam Minister, G C Langthasa's son.

In a statement sent to some newspapers in Guwahati last night (May 30), the ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam) chairman, Aurobindo Rajkhowa, claiming responsibility for the abduction, demanded release of his top cadres who had gone missing in the Bhutan Army opertion.

The missing militants include Robin Neog, Bening Rabha, Ashanta Bagh Phukan, Ajay Narzary, Abhijit Deka, Naba Changmai and Neelu Chakravarty.

The banned outfit claimed it would not release the minister's son, Nirmalendu Langthasa, till the whereabouts of its senior cadres were announced.

The ULFA alleged that its missing leaders were kept in Army's Eastern Command headquarters, Fort William, Kolkata.

The minister's youngest son was kidnapped from N C Hills district along with two others on April 27, 2004 when they were on their way from Nellie to Umpanai.

The two others were released the next day but Langthasa's family members were sent a ransom note for Rs three crore.

As the militants claiming to be ULFA members, however, did not send the ransom note on its usual pad, the involvement of the United Peoples' Democratic Solidarity was also suspected.

The abduction episode was kept under wraps by the family till May 10 and the next day the minister appealed to the captors to release his son on humanitarian ground even as he negated the possibility of paying ransom.