May 22: For the first time in the decades-old insurgency theatre of Assam, police paid back militants in the same coin, firing mortars to repulse an attack last night by the banned Ulfa on a commando picket at Borjora along the Assam-Meghalaya border.

Till this incident, it was the Ulfa that had been using mortars to attack security forces and vital installations across the state. The police usually do not use mortars, never in civilian areas, to prevent “collateral damage”, a term denoting civilian casualties.

The police today said Ulfa militants armed with sophisticated weapons, including AK-47 rifles, attacked the commando post around 10 pm. The offensive is believed to have been in retaliation to the arrest of the outfit’s Enigma group commander, Lal Singh, on Saturday.

The commandos used two-inch mortars and light machine guns in the counter-attack. Meghalaya police said the gun-battle was “very heavy”, with over 200 rounds being fired.

The commandos have been camping at Mendipathar in East Garo Hills district to assist Meghalaya police flush out militants from the area.

Inspector-general of Assam police (law and order) S.B. Kakoti said the commando unit that fought the militants did not suffer any casualty. It is not known whether any of the militants was killed.

Deputy superintendent of police, East Garo Hills, said the Ulfa had a “definite plan to avenge Lal Singh’s arrest”. He said the militant’s arrest was a big setback for the outfit because he was its “best explosives expert” and was responsible for making the Garo hills a dumping ground of arms and ammunition.

Commandant of the Assam police’s commando battalion, B.P. Gupta, will visit Borjora tomorrow to take stock of the situation. “Our boys did a wonderful job last night. We can fight back easily as the boys are well-trained,” he said.

An operation has been launched to apprehend the Ulfa militants, numbering about 30, who attacked the commando post. They are suspected to be hiding in the dense forest along the Mendipathar-Goalpara border.

The 5th battalion of Meghalaya police is helping the commandos trace the militants.

Police sources in Meghalaya said the Ulfa militants had used a deserted sawmill to mount the attack on the commando unit. They fled the area on seeing the commandos using mortars.

Militant outfits of the Northeast have been using mortars and rocket-propelled grenades with alarming frequency. On Wednesday, the “red army” of the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak attacked a CRPF post at Moirang Khunou in Bishenpur district of Manipur with mortars.

The outfit claimed that three CRPF personnel were killed and five wounded in the attack. However, official sources in Imphal denied it.