HT Correspondent
SIVASAGAR, Oct 16: With inputs from the Intelligence Agencies, Sivasagar police busted a horrible ULFA(I) plan to kidnap top ONGC officers from a rig near Bokota Nemuguri and arrested two persons, Irshad Latiff and a surrendered ULFA cadre, Rahul Hazarika alias Laden, in the wee hours on Wednesday. The third person involved in the kidnapping plan, Tahir Hussain, evaded arrest as he left his residence with family before the police party reached his home in Babupatty on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday in his office, SP Sivasagar Subhrajyoti Bora told media persons that the three individuals—Tahir Hussain of Babupatty, Irshad Latiff (Mithu) of the same area, and Rahul Hazarika alias Laden from Moran—worked in tandem for about two months and meticulously planned how and when the kidnapping could be executed. He stated that the police received secret information on October 5 that two cars had been moving suspiciously on NH37 with individuals of doubtful activity and later learned about the secret plan to kidnap two or three ONGC higher officials from a rig site in Bokota Nemuguri on October 6 during the changeover of the shift in the evening. The SP mentioned that the planning started in May and that, as planned, Rahul Hazarika spent the night of October 5 with Tahir and Irshad in Tahir’s house. Since Tahir was working on the same rig, he informed the ULFA(I) that the time of the changeover would be most propitious for abducting the ONGC officers. Accordingly, on October 6, early in the morning at around 4:00 am, the three set out in an Innova car to Charaideo near the Nagaland border to meet four ULFA(I) cadres who were supposed to kidnap the ONGC officers. All seven individuals moved about Sivasagar town for the entire day, waiting for evening to set in. However, as the district police intensified checks at all key points in and around the town, the party could not reach the rig site on time. Finally, when the gang arrived, the officers were safely home after the changeover. Police did not divulge the names of two more individuals who were involved in the crime.
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SP Bora clarified that a separate case has been registered (No 11/2024) in Bokota Nemuguri PS in connection with the injury of the SULFA man, Rahul Hazarika, and it is being investigated by an independent IO from the office of the IGP Eastern Range.
Earlier, a police team led by Abdul Mannan, IO, Simaluguri PS, and Kalpajyoti Sharma, OC, Sivasagar PS, in the presence of an Executive Magistrate, raided the Babupatty residence of one Tahirul Hussain, an assistant engineer at ONGC (Drilling), for five hours on Tuesday in connection with a case registered in Simaluguri PS (Case No 24/2024). It is alleged that Tahir Hussain had been providing key information to the banned outfit, and several incriminating documents, laptops, toy rifles, three cars, and one numberless sophisticated bike were seized from his residence bearing the numbers AS 04 R 2888, AS 04 Y 2012, and AS 06 U 3474. The police have informed ONGC about the development and urged the ONGC authorities to take necessary action against their own officer.
Tahirul’s close friend and accomplice, Irshad Latif (Mithu), was arrested from his residence in the same area. Farukh Ahmed, a mobile phone trader from Dhabbapatty, was also picked up by the police for interrogation.
ULFA(I) attempted the same to kidnap three ONGC engineers from a rig in Lakwa (Rumania Rig I) in 2021. After long negotiations with the government and appeals from the public, ULFA(I) released the three from their captivity in the Kachin area. It is due to the district police’s strict vigilance over the situation that a horrible kidnapping incident could be averted in Sivasagar.
