>GreenC bot: Rescued 1 archive link; reformat 1 link. Wayback Medic 2.5

2021-04-21T20:05:33Z

Rescued 1 archive link; reformat 1 link. Wayback Medic 2.5

New page

{{Infobox criminal
| name = Dwipamani Kalita
| image_name =
| image_size =
| image_caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Jabjabkuchi,<br/> [[Nalbari]], [[Assam]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| alias = <br/>Sima Sonowal, Moina
| motive =
| charge = Terrorism
| conviction =
| conviction_penalty =
| conviction_status = Surrendered
| occupation = Business Woman, Social worker
| spouse =
| parents = late Karuna kalita
| children =
}}

'''Dwipamani Kalita''' ([[Assamese language|Assamese]]: '''দ্বীপামণি কলিতা''') (aliases ''Sima Sonowal<ref name="ab">{{cite web |url=http://www.nenanews.com/NEE%20May%207%20-%2021,%2003/Cover%20Story.htm |title=Rocket lady collapses |date=May 7–12, 2003 |publisher=North East Enquirer |accessdate=16 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704125044/http://www.nenanews.com/NEE%20May%207%20-%2021%2C%2003/Cover%20Story.htm |archivedate=4 July 2008 }}</ref><ref name="cd">{{cite web|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/22430/|title=Ulfa mortar terror turns out to be a 20-yr-old girl|last=Kashyap|first=Samudra Gupta|date=Apr 21, 2003|publisher=Indianexpress.com|accessdate=16 December 2009}}</ref><ref name="ij">{{cite web|url=http://www.indiarightsonline.com/Sabrang/ethnic3.nsf/38b852a8345861dd65256a980059289d/663c158f0c2d13c1e5256d4e00245d45?OpenDocument|title=Top woman ULFA cadre surrenders|last=Staff Reporter|date=2003-04-21|publisher=The Assam Tribune|accessdate=17 December 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713025731/http://www.indiarightsonline.com/Sabrang/ethnic3.nsf/38b852a8345861dd65256a980059289d/663c158f0c2d13c1e5256d4e00245d45?OpenDocument|archivedate=13 July 2011}}</ref> '''Sima Sonowal''', '''Moina'''<ref name="ij" />) is the first ULFA hit-woman of the outfit. She was responsible for all the mortar attacks executed during 2002–2003 in Assam.<ref name="ab" /><ref name="cd" /> She joined the outfit in 1998.<ref name="ab" /><ref name="cd" /><ref name="ij" /> As she told to police, though she was an expert in mortar shelling, she was used to RPGs. Her accomplices were Dilip Roy and Pranoy Roy<ref name="ab" /><ref name="ij" /> who formed a three-member elite group.<ref name="gh">{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2003/04/21/stories/2003042104840100.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106233839/http://www.hindu.com/2003/04/21/stories/2003042104840100.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 6, 2012|title=Girl behind major ULFA mortar attacks surrenders|date=April 21, 2003|work=[[The Hindu]]|accessdate=16 December 2009}}</ref>

==Family background==
Dwipamani hails from Jabjabkuchi village under Ghagrapar PS in Nalbari.<ref name="ab" /> Her father Karuna Kalita<ref name="ab" /> died while she was an infant<ref name="cd" /> forcing her to live with her step mother.<ref name="ab" /> According to DGP [[Harekrishna Deka]], she was a victim of social ostracism and trauma which made a militant out of her.<ref name="cd" /> She was separated from her mother at a very young age and saw her father killed by the villagers. Her elder brother was also killed in an accident.<ref name="ij" /> Being unable to bear the atrocities of her step mother she joined the outfit in 1998 through one Minati Kalita, and ULFA activist Manoj Goswami of Nalbari.<ref name="ab" />

==Education==
As a student she was a brilliant one and excelled in her [[High School Leaving Certificate (India)|HSLC]] and [[Higher Secondary Examination|HS examination]]s securing letter marks.<ref name="ab" /><ref name="cd" /><ref name="ij" /> She passed the HSLC examination in 1996 with letter marks in Mathematics and Advanced Mathematics and the Higher Secondary examination in 1998 in first division with letter marks in Logic.<ref name="ij" /> Although a very bright student she was said to be deprived of any support from her family and friends.<ref name="cd" />

==Training==
Dwipamani was exclusively trained in [[Misnupur]], Bangladesh in the [[United Liberation Front of Asom#Enigma Force|Enigma]] ‘B’ camp for four months<ref name="ab" /><ref name="ij" /> where she met Paresh Barua for the first time.<ref name="ab" /> After the completion of her training, she was taken to an official firing range, blindfolded by the ULFA’s foreign associates.<ref name="ab" /><ref name="ij" /> Then she was inducted into the outfit’s [[Enigma Group]] which is responsible for carrying out violent strikes.

==Mission==
After having completed her training, she was despatched to Guwahati. She was told to lead a normal life to deflect any suspicion even as she carried out the attacks. She even reportedly purchased a plot and constructed a house on the outskirts of Guwahati. ‘‘Unlike the other ULFA cadre, she travelled by public transport and did not carry any cellphone or call up the leadership from Guwahati after she was sent out on these missions. Her most potent weapon was her complete anonymity and secrecy,’’ IGP Khagen Sharma said. She reportedly travelled with two-inch-long mortars in city buses.<ref name="cd" />

===Major Attacks===
The operations were masterminded in Bangladesh by C-in-C [[Paresh Baruah]], deputy C-in-C [[Raju Baruah]], [[Drishti Rajkhowa]] and Ramu Gogoi<ref name="ab" /><ref name="ij" /> and the trio were assigned for the job.<ref name="ab" />

* On October 27, 2002, she fired a mortar which landed and exploded in the Dispur Capital residential complex. Two government and a private vehicle were damaged, however, no one was injured. The mortar was fired from behind the [[Dispur Law College]], it has now been revealed.<ref name="ab" /><ref name="cd" /><ref name="ij" />
* On December 22, 2002, she tried to blow up the CRPF transit camp in the city but failed.<ref name="ab" /><ref name="ij" />
* On December 25, 2002, she fired six mortars in quick succession near Ambari. 21 persons sustained splinter injuries, of which three later died.<ref name="ab" /><ref name="cd" /><ref name="ij" /><ref name="gh" />

The other two morter attacks, at Borjhar and Palashbari, were carried out by her accomplice Pranoy Roy.<ref name="ab" />

==Surrender==
On Sunday, April 20, 2003, Dwipamani surrendered before DGP [[Harekrishna Deka]] and IGP (Special Branch) Khagen Sharma.<ref name="gh" /> She was only 20 at the time of surrender. She deposited an AK-56 and three rocket-propelled grenades during her formal surrender to the DGP. IGP Sharma said that Dwipamani was in touch with him over telephone for three months or so.<ref name="ab" /><ref name="ij" /> After accomplishing a mission she even started calling up IGP Sharma over phone and taunted him for having failed to catch the culprits. As she admits before the reporters IGP Sharma gradually started talking her out of the destructive life she was leading which made her realize that she had only been used as a machine by the ULFA.<ref name="cd" /><ref name="ij" /> She said at the press conference that she was not aware of the ideology of the ULFA and only joined the outfit due to family problems.<ref name="ij" /><ref name="gh" />

==Rehabilitation==
Dwipamani was on “specialised rehabilitation” and in order to return her to a normal life, the police top brass had taken special care of her.<ref name="ab" /> “The police would rehabilitate her in a ‘‘non-conventional way’’ by supporting her education and giving whatever other support she required to settle down in life, given her good academic record.” Said DGP [[Harekrishna Deka]].<ref name="cd" /> Now Dwipamani is the owner of two popular restaurants in Guwahati — both specialising in Assamese dishes. She was supported by the Assam Police to start the restaurants under a special rehabilitation package for surrendered rebels.

==See also==
*[[List of top leaders of ULFA]]
*[[Sanjukta Mukti Fouj]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalita, Dwipamani}}
[[Category:People from Nalbari district]]
[[Category:ULFA members]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]

Dwipamani Kalita - Revision history

>GreenC bot: Rescued 1 archive link; reformat 1 link. Wayback Medic 2.5