Four youths injured in police firing as Assam DGP trades barbs with insurgent group Ulfa-I

The firing took place a day after the Assam DGP G P Singh told reporters in Guwahati that action would be taken against those who tried to stop the 'journey of development' in Assam.

Guwahati: In an offensive against Ulfa-Independent (Ulfa-I), four youths were injured in two separate firing incidents in Tinsukia and Sibsagar district by the state police on Sunday.

One suspected Ulfa-I cadre was injured at Geleki in the Sibsagar district while three youths, who were allegedly on their way to join a Ulfa-I camp in neighbouring Myanmar, were similarly injured in the neighbouring Tinsukia district. Sibsagar and Tinsukia in eastern Assam are considered to be Ulfa-I's strongholds.

According to the police, based on intelligence inputs, the three were caught at Kharsong area in Tinsukia situated along the inter-state border with Arunachal Pradesh. But the police had to open fire when the youths tried to snatch weapons from the team and flee. "They were on their way to Ulfa camp. We can not allow them to do so as per law as Ulfa is a banned organisation," said a police officer in Tinsukia. The four with bullet injuries were admitted to Assam Medical College and a hospital in Dibrugarh.

Reacting to the incidents, the Ulfa-I, however, claimed that the four youths had no links with them. In a statement, Rumel Asom, a member of the outfit's publicity wing alleged that the four were injured by the state police in a fake encounter.

The firing took place a day after Assam DGP G P Singh told reporters in Guwahati that action would be taken against those who tried to stop the "journey of development" in Assam. "We don't want to allow the atmosphere of violence to be back in Assam. The government's direction is very clear, we can not allow anyone to stop the journey of progress. The government is paying me a salary and I will follow the direction of the government to maintain peace and help in the development process."

Exchange of barbs

Singh has been engaged in a war of words with Ulfa-I, the only major insurgent group still out of the peace process, for the past few weeks.

The outfit had carried out three bomb blasts near army installations in Tinsukia, Sibasagar and Jorhat since November. Following the blasts, Singh asked Ulfa-I to target him instead of carrying out blasts and targeting the people. Ulfa-I dared Singh to move without security cover for a week in Guwahati. Following this, three youths were arrested in Guwahati for their alleged plot to create disturbance in the city.

According to security experts, Ulfa-I still has around 300 cadres, who are taking shelter in camps areas along the Myanmar-China border. The outfit has rejected Assam government's calls to join peace talks without discussion on its "core demand" for the "sovereignty of Assam."

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma had also admitted that Ulfa-I remained the only hurdle in the path of "complete peace" in the state grappling against the problem of insurgency for more than four decades.