The Army has repelled an ULFA strike in Assam, not in a battle of  bullets or bombs, but in a war of propaganda.
A woman, who accused a soldier of molesting her, has now agreed to withdraw the complaint she lodged in the local police station.

She changed her mind after the Army lodged a counter-complaint in the same police station accusing her of acting at the behest of the ULFA.

Jyotsna Konwar, a resident of Tipomia village in Dibrugarh district of eastern Assam, lodged a complaint in the Tengakhat police station on October 10 last, accusing a soldier of the Army’s 11 Guards regiment of molesting her.

She alleged that the soldier molested her during a house-to-house search operation in her village on October 8 last.

The jawans conducted the search to nab the ULFA militants. The village is believed to be a stronghold of the outlawed militant outfit.

The security personnel are often accused of harassing innocent civilians, flouting human rights and even molesting women, while combating militancy in north-eastern region.

Jyotsna’s allegation too triggered a stir against the Army. The students’ and youths’ organizations took to the streets demanding probe into her complaint and punishment against the accused soldier.

But the Army rubbished the allegation and accused Jyotsna of acting at the behest of the ULFA, which is desperate to incite protests against the security forces in order to make them slow down or halt counter-insurgency operations in eastern Assam. The Army lodged a counter complaint in the police station, accusing Jyotsna, her husband Pratap, fellow villager Putuli Phukan and village headman Nareshwar Gogoi of hatching a “criminal conspiracy and framing baseless charges” against a soldier.

As police launched parallel probes into the allegation and counter-allegation, Jyotsna backed out and agreed to withdraw her complaint.

 “She says she could withdraw the complaint if the Army too does the same,” said the Officer-in-Charge of Tengakhat Police Station, Mrinal Kumar Das.

The Army, however, is not ready to withdraw the complaint against her. “They brought certain serious allegations against us. We are not going to pull out now. The police are investigating the case and we hope truth will come out soon,” said Col Yashpal Singh, the Commanding Officer of the 11 Guards regiment. This is the first time the Army has lodged a complaint in a police station to counter an allegation of excess against one of its soldiers.