New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday presented a charge sheet against ULFA-I leader Paresh Baruah and five associates, accusing them of orchestrating a plot to assault army encampments as part of an anti-India stratagem, the central agency revealed.
These individuals have been indicted for multiple criminal acts in a 2023 incident involving an assault on a military base by the outlawed terrorist faction in Assam, as detailed in an NIA communiqué.
The United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I), an outlawed terrorist group operating from Myanmar, conspired and organized the attack. On the evening of November 22, 2023, two youths on motorcycles hurled grenades at an army camp in Kakopathar, Tinsukia district, Assam, the agency stated.
Although the attack resulted in no casualties, it was part of a broader scheme to inflict harm on army personnel through a series of grenade assaults across various army camps in the state, according to the investigation agency.
“In the charge sheet submitted today before the NIA Special Court in Guwahati, the agency has identified Paresh Baruah, the self-proclaimed (SS) head of the banned group, alongside SS Brigadier Arunudoy Dohutia, SS 2nd Lt Saurav Asom, SS Captain Abhijit Gogoi alias Aisheng Asom, and two others named Parag Borah and Bijoy Moran, as the primary conspirators and perpetrators of the attack,” the agency disclosed.
Parag and Bijoy were apprehended in early December of the previous year from Tinsukia district, whereas the remaining suspects are currently at large. The charge sheet unveils the profound conspiracy engineered by the upper echelons of ULFA-I “from beyond the international frontier,” filed under pertinent sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and the Explosive Substances Act, the NIA articulated.
The charge sheet brings to light a terrorist network involving recruitment, training camps, and the execution of attacks, all part of the conspiracy designed to further the banned outfit’s malevolent, anti-India separatist agenda, the statement continued.
NIA’s investigations, which took over the case from Assam Police, revealed that Paresh Baruah alias Paresh Asom and Arunudoy Dohutia alias Arunodoi Asom alias Iqbal alias Ramya Mech alias Bijit Gogoi were the masterminds behind the plot, the statement elaborated.
The pair had assigned Suresh Gogoi alias Saurav Asom and another operative to conduct multiple terrorist attacks on army camps in Assam, it was disclosed. Furthermore, it was discovered that Abhijeet Gogoi alias Kanak Gogoi alias Rumel Asom alias Aicheng Asom alias Aishang Asom had orchestrated the comprehensive planning, preparation, and execution of the attack in the current case, the NIA indicated.
He had conspired with Bijoy Moran alias Ipul alias Gandi, an overground worker (OGW) of ULFA-I, recruiting local youths to assist in the terrorist attack, it added. According to NIA investigations, ULFA-I had been leveraging social media platforms to recruit vulnerable youths into the organization, followed by their training for terrorist activities.
The proscribed outfit was engaged in orchestrating and executing terrorist attacks to advance its extremist and separatist ideology, the anti-terror agency emphasized. Investigations are ongoing to identify other conspirators and associates involved in the attack and to uncover the complete terror network, the statement concluded.
