Friday, December 05, 2008

It seems fairly certain that jihadi elements, rather than internal ultras are behind blasts

The name of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) too has risen in various quarters in connection with the recent blasts in Assam. While ULFA has mastered the science of serial bombings, along with that of handling RDX, ammonium nitrate and programmable timed devices, all of which were used in the Assam blasts, one must take into account the fact that the ULFA has never detonated bombs beyond 10 kgs; according to forensic experts, the bombs used in the latest blasts used anything between 30 kg and 40 kg of explosives. Also to be mentioned is the fact that even if the ULFA were to be responsible for the recent blasts, there would be reason to ask if their actions had the sanction of the outfit’s high command, especially when its commander in chief, Paresh Barua, has denied involvement in the blasts. In the years before the Bhutan operations in 2003 the ULFA, in its secessionist form, is known to have largely targeted government installations, political workers and security personnel. That, however, changed after the Bhutan operations, following which the ULFA did take to bombings. Even then, though, the outfit chose as its targets Hindi-speaking people and commercial areas. There isn’t as yet enough evidence to blame the blasts conclusively on the ULFA, till further and more concrete evidence is unearthed in this direction.

The lack of evidence at this juncture against the ULFA would give credence to the belief that jihadi elements are involved in these blasts. Given the assistance in terms of cars, SIM cards and site selection, it is clear that the blasts this time were carried out with local support. Again, while one does not hear SIMI being mentioned, and while the outfit is not very strong in Assam yet, HUJI and SIMI are now blood brothers. Besides this, the seven armed youths killed on the Indo-Bangladesh border recently by the army which said they were HUJI members who could not be identified on Indian soil, showing that they were not locals. Finally, HUJI or not, there is enough scope to believe that they were part of a terror outfit based in Bangladesh.

The bombing plan that was put in action this time is ominous; it would be wrong to believe that one has seen the end of such blasts. Not apprehending the real culprit based on real evidence would only leave open the door to more such attacks that could perhaps be even deadlier. One must remember that a man called Kari Salim had been apprehended in the year 1999, before his terror group in Assam could be activated.

His interrogation led to the recovery of huge amounts of RDX on the Indo-Bangladesh border in North Bengal by a joint team of the Assam and West Bengal Police. This only indicates that there exists in the northalleast of India a conspiracy by the ISI. ...Continue

Harekrishna Deka
ex-DGP, Assam & Sr Journalist




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