GUWAHATI, May 11— The mystery over the attack on the ancestral home of ULFA ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh Baruah at Jeraigaon in Dibrugarh district on Tuesday last has deepened with security officials alleging that the attack was stage-managed by the banned outfit to defame the government. What has added to the mystery is the fact that the ULFA is yet to make a detailed statement over the issue.
Security sources here said that there are enough indications to suggest that the ‘attack’ on the home of the ULFA commander in the dead of the night on Tuesday was carried out by members of the outfit themselves without any intention of harming anyone. If any harm was intended, it was on the image of the government. “It was carried out just to win public sympathy,” the sources alleged.
An unspecified number of gunmen, said to be wearing Army fatigues, had opened fire from AK series and self-loading rifles on the Baruah home making pock-marks on its facade. None were hurt in the incident though the firing continued for several minutes. The security detail, posted in the house, could barely react. The gunmen, who were allegedly talking in a mix of Assamese and Hindi among themselves, left in two vehicles.
Scoffing at suggestions that the attack was carried out by members of the security forces, the sources said that had this been so, the attackers could well have barged inside and killed members of the family. At the time of the attack, Baruah’s mother and brothers were inside the house. Moreover, the securitymen guarding the house would also have been removed. It was not done. On the contrary, the sentries are said to have retaliated against the attackers, though in a very feeble manner.
The sources said that the main idea behind the attack, carried out by the ULFA, was to drum up public outcry against the “terror-tactics” of the security forces that is alleged so often. Had that happened, the sagging morale of the ULFA cadres would have been boosted, the sources stated. The attempt has failed.
It may be mentioned here that the State government had also alleged a similar design by the ULFA with government spokesman Ripun Bora alleging that the ‘attack’ was carried out by the ULFA itself.