Assams director-general of police, K Hrishikesan, yesterday charged Indias largest tea company, Tata Tea, with financing the banned United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa) in several ways, including payment of the medical and hotel bills of Ulfa militants.
It has come to our notice that Tata Tea had paid money which could run into several lakhs to Ulfa on various occasions, Hrishikesan told reporters here.
Hrishikesan alleged that the tea company had paid the medical bills of arrested Ulfa militant Pranati Deka, and also financed air tickets for her and some of her associates. He added that Tata Tea had also recently paid the hotel bills of some Ulfa militants, who were staying at a three-star hotel in Mumbai. We are definitely going to take action as it is a criminal offence, he added.
A doctor and a Mumbai-based manager of the company were personally involved in these activities, he said. Deka, along with two other Ulfa militants, was recently arrested by the Mumbai police and handed over to the Assam police. Tata Tea officials here were not available for comments.
The serious charges have cast a shadow over Tata Tea, which has a 25 per cent marketshare of packet tea in the domestic market. The company emerged as the largest Indian tea company under the stewardship of managing director R K Krishna Kumar.
Kumar, who has been named the new managing director of Indian Hotels, will continue to be associated with Tata Tea as its deputy chairman.
