Wednesday, August 31 2005 15:26 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Guwahati: United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) Advisor Robin Handique, who was apprehended during 'Operation All Clear' by Royal Bhutan Army in December 2003, died today (Aug 31, 2005) at Kanaklata Civil Hospital in Tezpur following kidney failure, official sources said.

Handique, a bachelor, was 68 and is survived by two brothers. Handique, an arms and explosive expert was a founder member of ULFA and in-charge of five camps in Myanmar. He was also its Central Assam Commander for several years.

He later shifted base to Bhutan where he became the Chief Advisor of the banned outfit along with Bhimakanta Buragohain alias Mama. He was captured along with top ULFA leaders including Buragohain, Amulya Chandra Rai alias Amarjeet Gogoi and Bolin Das alias Kamal Kachari by Bhutan Army during the operation in 2003 to flush out North East militants from the neighbouring country and handed over to the Indian army.

The ULFA leader was subsequently sent to jails in Guwahati, Jorhat and Tezpur. Handique was suffering from diabetes and cardiac problems and was also brought to Guwahati two weeks ago for medical treatment.

He was shifted back to Tezpur Jail after improvement but the ULFA leader's condition deteriorated yesterday (Aug 30, 2005) and he was admitted to the hospital where he died this morning.

Handique hails from Titabor in Jorhat district and had studied Visual Arts at Vishwabharati in Shantiniketan.