The proscribed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) received a severe jolt on Monday when the police arrested one of its top commanders in Tezpur in central Assam.

The Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) D K Pathak said the ‘commander’ of the ULFA’s elite strike unit 28 Battalion, Prabal Neog and his wife Purabi Neog, also an active member of the militant outfit, were arrested when they were traveling in a car from Karbi Anglong to Tinsukia.

One of the most-wanted militants in Assam, Prabal was the mastermind behind the massacres of Hindi-speaking people in eastern Assam last January as well as in the hill-district of Karbi Anglong last August.

Over 100 Hindi-speaking people were massacred by the ULFA across the State this year. “The ULFA has of late been raising a new battalion in Karbi Anglong. Prabal has been looking after this new strike unit.

 He is indeed a very big catch for us,” said Pathak. Police said Prabal and Purabi along with their six-month-old son Raj were traveling in a car that was intercepted by a team of security-men at Mission Chariali in Tezpur following a tip off by intelligence agencies.

Police recovered some incriminating documents  besides some cash and personal belongings. No arms nor ammunition were found.