ULFA(I) faces fund crunch, attack in Jagun a ‘desperate bid’ to signal presence
Intelligence inputs suggest small ULFA(I) groups are active along the Assam-Arunachal border, but security agencies downplay any major threat to the poll process
File image of Security forces in a ULFA search operation (AT File Photo)
Guwahati, March 25: The United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) is trying to reorganise the outfit and has brought in new weapons. However, the police are of the view that the outfit does not have the capacity to disturb the election process.
Police sources told The Assam Tribune that the camps of the outfit in Myanmar are not well organised at this moment, and the outfit has been trying to regroup with the available resources.
In the run-up to the 2001 elections, at least 30 persons were killed by the ULFA, but now the outfit cannot disturb the poll process.
However, the possibility of an attack or two in the areas bordering Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland cannot be ruled out.
Sources revealed that, according to intelligence inputs, a group of eight to 10 members of the ULFA(I) are moving along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border areas.
They mostly stay in Arunachal Pradesh, but sometimes try to sneak into Assam for extortion.
Commenting on the recent attack in a police camp in Jagun, sources said that it was a desperate attempt by the militants to prove their existence.
There is an abandoned tea garden factory behind the camp and a river. Arunachal Pradesh is located across the river. The ultras must have fired RPGs from across the river.
The police camp should have sentries at night, but due to heavy rain at that time, the sentries must have missed the ultras.
Sources admitted that police personnel should have kept an eye on the abandoned tea factory, but maybe they were a bit lax.
The ULFA(I) is desperately trying to extort money from the tea gardens, stone quarries, coal traders, sand mahals, etc.
But according to information available, most of them were not paying the demanded amount, and that is why the outfit is suffering from a shortage of funds.
The attack on the police camp was an attempt to show their existence so that people would start paying the demanded money, sources added.
Security in the area has been augmented, but the terrain and the proximity to Arunachal Pradesh give the ultras an added advantage.