The ULFA-I has responded to the state Director General of Police, DGP GP Singh. GP Singh held a press conference in Kaziranga on15th Dec, Friday, and openly challenged the ULFA-I to target him instead of the civilians.
Notably, Assam witnessed the occurrence of the third consecutive explosions in 23 days. Previously, there were grenade explosions in the Dirak army camp in Tinsukia and the Joysagar army camp in Sivasagar. Following the third grenade blast in the Jorhat Army camp, the Director General of Police challenged Paresh Baruah, the Army Chief of ULFA-I, and ULFA-I to target him instead of civilians. He said that his home is in Kahilipara and his office is in Ulubari. If the ULFA-I wants to target him, they can.
The ULFA-I has responded to GP Singh’s remarks. In a statement signed by Captain Rumel Asom, a member of the organisation’s publicity department, said:
The challenge that GP Singh made to the ”United Liberation Forces, Assam (Independent)” organisation in the media on 15 December 2023; We have accepted the challenge on two conditions.
Firstly, GP Singh should replace local police officers along with the drivers, in the West-South-East Asia (WESA) region with CRPF or Indian Army (excluding WESA youth) for security.
Secondly, Patrol Guwahati openly for a week, as a decade ago, ULFA decided not to clash with indigenous officers/members. Accusations point to GP Singh attempting to revive fratricidal clashes. They claim he lacks the courage to accept and criticizes him for targeting unarmed youths like Swadhinta Fukan.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has already reacted to the war of words. He announced on Friday that he would start talks with the ULFA-I after the peace agreement was signed.
It remains to be seen how the Director General of Police responds to the challenge of the ULFA-I. Or how far this silence between the ULFA-I and the Director General of Police goes.
