File picture of army personnel during an operation against Ulfa

Guwahati, Oct. 7: The army is aiming to “choke” Ulfa in the next few months if Delhi does not spoil its plans like it did last year by unexpectedly declaring a ceasefire in the midst of counter-insurgency operations.

Spurred by a string of successes since resuming the battle against Ulfa, the army has said that it expects to have a stranglehold on the militant group in “three to four months” and that there is no need for the government to even weigh the talks option.

A highly-placed source said security forces were focusing on Ulfa’s 28 Battalion, its most lethal strike force in the Upper Assam districts. “The army has softened up the 28 Battalion and will soon be in a position to deal the decisive blow. This is why it has asked the Centre not to make any political intervention at this juncture.”

Delhi declared a unilateral truce last year against the army’s wishes, giving Ulfa the space and time to recover and regroup and relocate/redeploy arms and men.

“The result was there for all to see,” the source said, alluding to Ulfa’s resurgence and the orgy of violence that followed.

The army fears that the political leadership will again try to buy peace with the outfit ahead of panchayat elections in the state.

The apprehension stems from the fact that Congress workers at the grassroots have been targeted several times over the past year.

Ulfa’s 28 Battalion is on the verge of crumbling and desperate for breathing space. The army has also reined in the 27 Battalion, active in Karbi Anglong, since being given charge of counter-insurgency operations there. Ulfa and the Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front recently killed 29 Hindi-speaking people in that district.

A senior official said Ulfa militants were striking only in urban areas with hardly any army presence. “The political leadership is against deploying the army in urban areas. We are now operating mostly in the rural and fringe areas.”

Although the presence of Ulfa camps across the border remains a source of concern for the army, the official said Bangladesh’s military establishment was finally showing signs of acting against militants holed up there. “We have seen Bangladesh taking some action against militants hiding in that country and that is a happy augury.”

Mounting public anger against Ulfa is another reason for the army to feel confident of taking its offensive to a logical conclusion this time.

Last week, Mangal Singh a.k.a. Amrit Goswami of Ulfa’s 28 Battalion, was fatally wounded when residents of No. 1 Joraguri village near Dergaon in Golaghat district attacked him and two accomplices for trying to intimidate Sajal Chakraborty, an AGP leader, in his house. The trio was allegedly trying to extort money from the politician, a panchayat member.

A caller identifying himself as Sujit Mohan, the commander of “A Company” of Ulfa’s 28 Battalion, told a section of the media the next day that Ulfa had never demanded money from any AGP member and that Mangal’s killing was a conspiracy by the administration.