Assam Police foils ULFA-I’s abduction bid targeting ONGC officers, 2 held

Sivasagar, Oct 17: Sivasagar police has foiled a United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) bid to abduct top Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) officers from a rig near Bokota Nemuguri with the arrest of two persons, including a surrendered cadre of the outfit.

During the operation, which was conducted based on inputs from intelligence agencies, police arrested one Irshad Latiff alias Mithu on Tuesday and then arrested the second accused, Rahul Hazarika alias Laden, a surrendered ULFA-I cadre, following a shootout at Bokota in the wee hours of Wednesday. Rahul sustained injuries in the shootout.

However, another accused, Tahir Hussain, who is an assistant engineer (drilling) of the ONGC, gave the police a slip when they reached his residence at Babupatty on Tuesday. According to police, Tahir had been providing some key information to ULFA-I cadres to help them carry out the abduction.

Irshad is also a resident of Babupatty while Rahul is from Moran.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Sivasagar SP Subhrajyoti Bora said that the three had been hatching a plan with a group of ULFA-I cadres to abduct ONGC officers for the past couple of months.

Since Tahir works at the same rig, he suggested to the ULFA-I cadres that the time of shift changeover would be the most appropriate moment to carry out the abduction, the SP said.

On October 6, the three meet four ULFA-I cadres, who were supposed to have kidnapped the ONGC officers, near the Nagaland border in Charaideo. All the seven persons later moved to Sivasagar town and waited for evening to set in. However, they could not reach the rig site on time to execute their plan due to intensified police checking in Sivasagar town.

Several incriminating documents, laptops, toy rifles, three cars, and one motorcycle have been seized by the police from Tahir's residence. The police have informed ONGC about the development and urged the ONGC authority to initiate necessary action against Tahir.

Farukh Ahmed, who owns a retail outlet of mobile phones, has also been picked up by the police from Dhabbapatty for interrogation in this connection.