ULFA (I) commander held near Assam-Arunachal border, firearms recovered: Police
Police said the accused was directly involved in the killing of a police officer and was involved in various extortions, arms smuggling and other activities in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh
Silchar: The Assam Police, in a joint operation with the Assam Rifles and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), have arrested a suspected commander of the banned militant group United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent), or ULFA-I, and recovered some firearms, officials said.
The superintendent of police (SP), Tinsukia, Gaurav Abhijit Dilip, said that the self-styled brigadier of ULFA-I, identified as Rupam Asom, was arrested from the Lekhapani area of Tinsukia early on Saturday.
“He was involved in various extortions, arms smuggling and other activities in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. He was directly involved in the killing of a police officer, and we had been tracking him for several months,” Gaurav said.
He said, based on specific inputs provided by Kolkata-based Military Intelligence, an operation was launched on Friday and the ULFA (I) commander was arrested from an area at around 4am on Saturday.
During the operation, one pistol, hand grenades and some other devices were recovered. “The operation is going on, and we are hopeful that we’ll get more information about the activities and the network of this militant group in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh,” he added.
The SP said that Rupom was directly involved in a militant ambush that happened in Tinsukia in 2018 where the officer-in-charge of Bordumsa police station, Bhaskar Kalita, was killed.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigated the matter and filed a charge-sheet naming seven ULFA (I) insurgents and Rupam Asom was one of them, according to police.
Officials said that Rupam Asom had been visiting the areas near the Assam-Arunachal border frequently, and he was planning “something big”. “Rupom and his team were hiding in a jungle near the border and during the operation, we managed to catch him. We are searching for the others too,” a senior cop said.
Additional SP(HQ), Tinsukia, Mrinmoy Das said that this is an important operation since Rupom Asom is one of the most powerful cadres of ULFA-I. “He was leading many operations in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.”
