Assam Rifles and Arunachal Pradesh police nab two ULFA (I) cadres in a joint operation

In a joint operation conducted by Khonsa Battalion of Assam Rifles and Arunachal Pradesh Police, two active members of the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) group were apprehended in a village named Horu Chinghan. The operation took place on the morning of April 13, 2023.

The two apprehended ULFA (I) cadres have been identified as Self-Styled 2nd Lieutenant Ranju Asom, also known as Himangshu Bhuyan, and Self-Styled Private Orindom Asom, also known as Mahanta Baruah. Both are residents of Assam.

ULFA (I) is reportedly trying to strengthen its presence in the upper Assam region, making the apprehension of these cadres a significant success for the security forces. The past few months have seen several apprehensions and surrenders of ULFA (I) cadres in the upper Assam and TCL regions of Arunachal Pradesh, which have weakened the group's activities and hierarchy.

Earlier on February, 2023 a senior member of ULFA (I) surrendered to the police in Guwahati. Bubul Chandra Baruah, a self-styled major of the outfit, had entered India from the group's camp in Myanmar in February 2023. He surrendered in front of additional DGP (special branch) Hiren Chandra Nath.

Baruah, who joined ULFA (I) in 1997, had received arms and medical training in Myanmar. Since 1998, he was involved in imparting arms and medical training to the group's cadres. Between 2011 and 2019, he provided arms training to around 700 cadres and medical training to 150 cadres of the outfit as the chief of arms and medical camp at ULFA-I camp in Taga, Myanmar.