Assam blast: Police probing HuJI-ULFA link

The ULFA cadres who are being recruited are being trained by the Jehadi militants and there is definitely a link between the two which is being investigated, he said.

Although the game plan was of the Bangladesh based Huji outfit, the police have got clues that it was carried out by the help of select individuals having local links and there the ULFA angle came in, he said.

The authorities had also pointed out Huji involvement because of the fact that except for one minority dominated pocket in Barpeta, all the other bomb attacks were carried out in general public places.

“The minority pocket was selected to mislead the people ….even the intensity of the blast was less”, he said.

Stating that a handful of persons with criminal background have been picked up from various places of the state following the blasts, the police official said “vital clues have been gathered”.

Refusing to divulge the details as it may hamper further investigation, he said the Huji along with the ULFA had planned a series of attacks after killing of seven Jehadi militants in Dhubri district.

“Of late, frequent movement of ULFA militants to Bhutan have been noticed which could also be a pointer to the plan to unleash violence”, he said.

While there were unconfirmed reports of ULFA-Huji links since 1998, the nexus was proved in 2003 with the arrest of some Jehadi militants and their subsequent confessions.

Currently, at least 240 Jehadi militants are incarcerated in Guwahati Jail against whom cases have been filed.

Meanwhile, the Assam Public Works (APW), an organisation of ULFA kin, have demanded a separate jail for the Jehadis to make them isolated.

“Setting up a separate jail and launching army operation in riverine areas (which are minority community dominated) could go a long way in severing this unholy nexus”, APW secretary general Abhijeet Sarma said.