ULFA denies serving extortion note to hospital
From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: After its extortion notice served to a charitable hospital run by missionaries has been exposed before the media by the hospital authority, the anti-talks faction of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) on Wednesday stated that the extortion notice was meant for the chairman of the hospital who is also a ‘tea planter’ besides being a missionary.
N Stephen Nag, the chairman of St Luke Hospital, which was set up in 1923 at Chabua in Dibrugarh district by the Diocese of Assam, on Tuesday spilled before the media that the ULFA faction had sent an extortion letter in his name to the hospital demanding Rs 20 lakh . He said it was surprising for a charitable institution like St Luke Hospital which has been rendering healthcare to the needy in a large part of eastern Assam.
The hospital claims to provide medical assistance to about 6000 patients every month besides providing healthcare service to in far flung villages and tea estates of the area.
Once its extortion demand has been exposed, the banned ULFA on Wednesday in an e-mailed statement to the media claimed that it did not demand any money from the hospital authority, but from the chairman of the hospital Stephen Nag as he is a ‘tea planter’. The ULFA warned Nag for trying to convince people that the letter of demand from ULFA was meant for the hospital authority and threatened to hamper the chairman’s personal tea business in coming days.
The ULFA also stated that it would ensure that the misinformation campaign resorted t by Nag did not hamper the functioning of the charitable hospital that is located in a place which is birth place of many senior leaders of the ULFA.
The ULFA also called upon the staff of the hospital not to be in collusion with chairman Nag in his efforts to defame the outfit in the eyes of the public.
The outfit claimed that Nag in response to phone call made from the ULFA demanding money wanted the outfit to send a letter in his name to the hospital so that he was convinced about the veracity of the demand. The ULFA dared Nag to make pubic the exact conversation he had over phone with the ULFA regarding the matter.