ULFA-I threatens Assam DGP over ‘fake encounters’; he brushes it aside

SILCHAR: Militant group United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) on Sunday threatened Assam director general of police (DGP) Gyanendra Pratap Singh over police shootouts in the state, claiming that he will have to face dire consequences if the state police continued to carry out what it called were “fake encounters”.

DGP GP Singh has rejected the threat, saying such statements didn’t merit a reaction. Singh later put out a post on Twitter, sharing two verses from Bhagavad Gita that stress on the importance of doing one’s duty. “Fight for the sake of duty, treating alike happiness and distress, loss and gain, victory and defeat. Fulfilling your responsibility in this way, you will never incur sin.”

Singh did not cite any context for the two verses. A police officer said these appeared to be his counter to the statement issued by a self-styled captain of ULFA-I Rumel Axom. In this, the group gave what it called was “its last warning” to the police chie.

“Either you stop showing bravery in the name of fake encounters or you leave Assam as soon as possible, this is our last warning,” Rumel Axom said.

Rumel cited the case of suspected ULFA-I cadre Suruj Gogoi, who was shot dead in Sivasagar district earlier this year, and claimed tht innocents were killed in encounters in Assam but corrupt officials and businessmen involved in smuggling of Burmese areca nuts were free.

The statement came hours after GP Singh put out a post on Twitter about extortion demands being made, mostly in the name of UlFA, and warned that people caught trying to extort money in the name of ULFA will be prosected under the anti-terror law irrespective of whether they are linked to the group or not.

DGP Singh also uploaded a photograph of a man who was shot by the police after he allegedly tried to escape from police custody after being caught on charges of extorting money from businesspersons.

“These provisions are for collection of funds, using proceeds of terrorism etc and may lead to forfeiture of property of the persons involved in collection of funds for ULFA [irrespective of claims of genuine or fake] Concerned District Police and Security forces have been directed to take firm action against any person involved in making extortion demands and/or collection of such demanded money. @assampolice would not let the economic development of the state be held hostage by such persons and take ruthless action per law. People are advised not to be part of such collection of extortion/demanded money,” Singh said in his post.

The ULFA-I statement said neither of the two, a woman named Pushpanjali Gogoi arrested with ₹3 lakh by the Dibrugarh police and Hem Chetia in Sivasagar district for same reason, were working for them. “None of them were appointed by us,” ULFA-I said.