Ulfa leader Azad Barua, who was arrested in Calcutta last Wednesday, grimaces while being taken to the chief judicial magistrate?s court in Guwahati on Monday. Picture by UB Photos

Sept. 26: Refusing to be browbeaten into holding fire, the army gunned down two more militants in the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park even as chief minister Tarun Gogoi tried to buy peace with the Ulfa-constituted People?s Consultative Group and rebel leader Paresh Barua asserted that his outfit would not sit for talks under duress.

The army identified the slain Ulfa militants as ?lance corporal? Niren Konwar and Hiren Dohotiya. Both were killed during an exchange of fire at Ajukhat, within Dibru-Saikhowa, in the early hours of the day. The slain rebels were carrying an AK-56 rifle, two magazines, a 303 rifle, assorted ammunition and some cash.

Their bodies were sent to Talap police station after the encounter, sources said.

Last week, the army gunned down the finance secretary of Ulfa?s crack 28 Battalion, Achinta Saikia, and another militant.

The army has been under pressure from various quarters to call off its operation at Dibru-Saikhowa. Activists of the All Assam Students? Union today staged demonstrations against the army action amid a 12-hour bandh in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts.

In Guwahati, the chief minister was closeted with a delegation from the People?s Consultative Group in his office for an hour. He assured the team that the Tinsukia district administration was making arrangements for supply of food and medicines to residents of villages affected by the army operation in Dibru-Saikhowa.

?The chief minister also told us that he will soon take up with the highest authorities in the central government our demand to create a conducive atmosphere for peace,? Dilip Patgiri, a member of the group, said.

The delegation complained to Gogoi about defence minister Pranab Mukherjee?s remark on the possibility of a ceasefire with Ulfa. It said the peace process could be derailed if senior leaders made such provocative statements.

Mukherjee had described the constitution of a team of mediators by Ulfa as a ?good gesture?, but one that needed to be ?backed by substance? for Delhi to even consider a complete halt to army operations. ?There is no ceasefire in Assam. A proposal for one is not enough,? he said during a stopover in Assam as part of his tour of the Northeast last week.

Placating the delegation, the chief minister said he would convey its views to Delhi.

Patgiri described the chief minister?s response to the issues raised by the delegation as ?very positive?.

His colleague Lachit Bordoloi said the People?s Consultative Group would soon make a second attempt to enter Dibru-Saikhowa and take stock of the situation. The army turned away a fact-finding delegation last week from one of the entrances to the ?core area? of Dibru-Saikhowa. ?We have received no order till now to call off the operation,? a defence spokesperson told the visiting team.

As the crisis intensified, the Ulfa commander-in-chief said in a statement last night that he was pained by the army action when the peace process had ?advanced quite a bit? with the constitution of the People?s Consultative Group.

?The Centre cannot make Ulfa sit for talks through use of force. No political problem can be solved through the army. The government is living in a fool?s paradise if it seeks to solve the Assam-India conflict through army operations,? Barua said.