Guwahati, June 27: Security forces have claimed to have traced the commander of Ulfa’s 709 battalion, Hira Sarania, and said operations were on to apprehend him.

Sarania is among the most wanted of the outfit’s field commanders and is behind most of the sabotage activities in lower Assam, including Guwahati.

“He keeps shuttling between Nalbari, Baksa and Barpeta districts,” a senior police official said.

Sarania, he added, was traced to an area covering Dhamdama in Nalbari district, Baganpara in Baksa and Jhala in Barpeta district.

The official, however, said it could be difficult to arrest him, as he was mostly alone and very few persons knew where he was to be found at any given point of time.

Sources said security forces have identified a few houses in these areas, in which Sarania took shelter frequently.

“It might take some time but sooner or later we will get Sarania,” he said.

Sources claimed that it was meticulous planning spanning over several months that resulted in the elimination of Basa Singh, the commander of the outfit’s 27 battalion.

Singh was killed in an encounter in Udalguri district a few months ago.

Saraniais among the Ulfa leaders who has close links with the outfit’s commander in chief Paresh Barua.

Sarania called up a local TV channel yesterday to clarify that the three Ulfa cadres arrested in Guwahati yesterday had joined the outfit recently and had no links with Paresh Barua, as claimed by the police.

The police arrested Bidyut Deka, Tapan Das and Naba Kumar Das, of the 709 battalion, from a rented house in Geeta Nagar yesterday.

The trio said during interrogation that they had never met Sarania but were recruited to the outfit by Akash Thapa, another member of the battalion.

Sources said though security forces managed to trace a few numbers used by Sarania a couple of weeks ago, the numbers remained switched off most of the time.

“These militants use several SIM cards and it is not easy to trace them by mobile phone numbers,” the official said.