GUWAHATI, March 16 � The commander-in-chief of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), Paresh Baruah has started making all out efforts to revitalise the outfit and according to intelligence inputs, he has even �promoted� more than a hundred cadres to keep them happy. Meanwhile, the anti-talk faction of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) may target security forces in the days to come in retaliation to the recent setbacks received by the outfit.
Highly placed security sources told The Assam Tribune that according to reports available, Paresh Baruah recently �promoted� more than a hundred cadres including the senior members, who are still with him following the decision of majority of the leaders of the outfit including Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa to come forward for talks with the Government of India.
As per information available with the security agencies, senior ULFA man Jiban Moran has now been given the status of �Lieutenant Colonel� by Paresh Baruah and by virtue of his rank, he is now the second in command of the outfit. Similarly, two other hardcore members � Drishti Rajkhowa and Bijoy Chinese have been promoted from the rank of self styled Second Lieutenant to self styled Major, giving them a major jump in the outfit.
Sources revealed that around 120 to 130 members of the ULFA are in Myanmar along with Paresh Baruah and the possibility of the hardliners in the ULFA trying more attacks in the run up to the polls cannot be ruled out. The ULFA can also use members of other militant outfits of the region or even hired persons to plant explosives on the past, there have been instances when the ULFA managed to hire outsiders to plant bombs only by paying petty amount of Rs 300. However, the ULFA used its own men to plant the bomb in the Rajiv Bhawan, sources added.
Security sources pointed out that Paresh Baruah would not risk his senior members by sending them to Assam to carry out subversive activities but the outfit would try to show its strength and adequate care would have to be taken to ensure that no major act of violence takes place in the election meetings of the political parties.
Commenting on the recent attack on the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel by the anti-talk faction of the NDFB in which nine BSF personnel were killed, sources revealed that there were intelligence inputs about the possibility of the militants targeting security forces in retaliation to the setbacks suffered by the outfit in counter insurgency operations. Several key members of the NDFB were arrested in recent times in both Assam and Meghalaya, while, 20 of the 100 odd new recruits sent towards Myanmar by the outfit for training were arrested in Mon area of Nagaland. Moreover, a cache of weapons of the outfit were seized in Bongaigaon district when those were taken to a base of the outfit in a secret bunker in a vehicle. Because of all those setbacks, the NDFB anti-talk faction hatched a plan to target the security forces and the plan was prepared by hardcore militant Bidai, who is the commander of the Central zone unit of the outfit.
However, sources said that the loss of life in the recent attack could have been reduced. Sources pointed out that at least 20 BSF personnel were traveling in a vehicle, which was not the correct thing to do in a vulnerable area. "In an area considered vulnerable, security personnel should always move in a convoy as far as possible so that the personnel in other vehicles can retaliate immediately if one vehicle is ambushed," sources pointed out and hoped that the security personnel would keep strictly follow the counter-insurgency drills while moving in vulnerable areas in future as possibility of more such attacks cannot be ruled out.
