Dibrugarh/Jorhat, Dec. 1: Five Upper Assam districts have been put on high alert and Assam police commandos deployed to intensify counter-insurgency operations following last night's attack on two workers of a stone-crushing firm at Namrup in Dibrugarh district.
In an email sent to media houses today, Ulfa (I) claimed responsibility for the attack. Security forces also suspect that the outfit carried out the attack with the help of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) rebels.
The site is 10km from Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh, known to be an NSCN stronghold. The mail was sent by a person claiming to be the outfit's deputy commander (eastern command) and assistant publicity secretary, Arunudoy Asom.
The Ulfa (I), in its press release, warned "Indians" to cooperate with them or quit Assam.
It blamed the "lack of cooperation by certain business institutions established by Indians for occurrence of such unfortunate incidents (Namrup attack).
"Time and again we have been calling upon these foreign economic migrants and Indian people who are continuing commercial activities in Western South East Asia (WESEA) either to cooperate with the liberation struggle of the sons of the soil or to quit Asom," the statement said. "Their defiance has forced us to these extremes," the statement added.
Sanjay Bharati, 50, and Gopal Shah, 26, employees of Giri Baba stone-crushing unit at Number 2 Dilli Ghat, received bullet injuries in their chest and stomach respectively after four militants fired indiscriminately at the unit.
"For the last 20 years, he (Sanjay) worked for the stone-crushing unit and stayed with his brother at Namrup,'' said a relative. Shah stays alone. The duo are undergoing treatment at Assam Medical College and Hospital, Dibrugarh.
A few months ago, Ulfa (I) attacked and killed a Hindi-speaking man and his daughter at Phillobari Bijulibon in Tinsukia district.
The All-Assam Bhojpuri Chhatra Parishad slammed the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government, accusing it of having failed to provide security to Hindi-speaking people.
Gama Paswan, the general secretary of the district unit of the students' union, felt that the chief minister's recent remark about the BJP being the party of "Hindi-speaking people" and who have "come to invade Assam", could have triggered the attack.
In Guwahati, the president of the students' union,Parshuram Dubey, submitted a memorandum to Gogoi, state home commissioner L.S. Changsan and the ministry of home affairs, seeking adequate security for Hindi-speaking people in the state.
Gogoi directed the chief secretary, V.K. Pipersenia, and director-general of police, Mukesh Sahay, to step up the offensive against Ulfa (I) and the NSCN (K).
Gogoi phoned GOC, 3 Corps, Lt Gen. Abhay Krishna, and said he would move the Centre for an all-out operation against the two outfits.
Forests and environment minister Atuwa Munda and inspector-general of police (law and order) S.N. Singh visited Dibrugarh.
