Pradip Hazarika

May 10: AGP leader Pradip Hazarika, who was wounded in an ambush yesterday, was today flown to New Delhi and admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for ?specialised treatment?.

Before leaving for New Delhi, the former minister told The Telegraph that the attack was not the work of Ulfa and pointed a finger of suspicion at his political rivals. ?I have fallen prey to a powerful political lobby which had been constantly working against me for quite some time now,? he said.

Hazarika, who was hit on his shoulder and a leg in the abortive attempt on his life in Sivasagar district, was airlifted along with one of his aides, Debananda Gohain, who was also injured in the attack.

Hazarika?s sister Queen, who was with her brother at the Aditya Hospital in Dibrugarh today, said: ?The doctors here have done their job. Now we are taking him to AIIMS for specialised treatment.?

The managing director of Aditya Hospital, Dr Nirmal Sahewalla, said both Hazarika and Gohain were stable. ?We operated on Hazarika?s right shoulder in a two-hour-long surgery last night. The operation was successful.?

Police, however, are convinced that the Ulfa is behind the attack. They have arrested eight persons from Sivasagar district in this connection and also recovered a rifle and four live cartridges from a suspected Ulfa aide, Bhutan Mech.

Sivasagar superintendent of police Mridul Dutta said all the arrested had been helping the militants. He revealed that six militants were involved in the attack on Hazarika and that the group had fled on three motorcycles towards Nagaland after the ambush.

The SP said had Hazarika?s personal security guards not fired a few rounds in retaliation, the consequences would have been more dangerous. ?The militants fled following the retaliatory firing by the PSOs.?

According to Dutta, ?The Ulfa had dropped enough hints about its plan in its mouthpiece, Freedom, by accusing Hazarika, among others, of abetting the secret killings.?

The SP said in view of the threat to Hazarika?s life, his security was beefed up and he was provided with four personal security officers, besides homeguards. ?He, however, exposed himself by travelling on a two-wheeler,? he added.

Hazarika is one of the AGP leaders accused by the Ulfa of either masterminding or abetting the ?secret killings? during the party?s last term in Dispur. Most of the victims in the ?secret killings? between 1996 and 2001 were immediate family members or relatives of Ulfa.

?Security of all those people felt to be vulnerable has been beefed up,? Dutta said.

Amguri town, a part of the Amguri Assembly constituency from where Hazarika is contesting on an AGP ticket, observed a spontaneous bandh today in protest against the attack.