ULFA-Quippo talks fail; rebels threaten to execute abducted employees next week

GUWAHATI: The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) (Independent) today said its talks with Quippo India Oil and Gas Infrastructure Ltd has “failed” and the two abducted employees of the drilling company would be executed next week.

In a statement issued by ULFA (I) publicity cell member K Rumel Axom, it has been stated that the negotiation talks with Quippo authorities from February 16 to 18 have failed miserably and the New Delhi- headquartered company has been declared banned in Southeast Asia, including Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, by the outlawed outfit.

The ULFA (I) has demanded a ransom of Rs 20 crore from the petroleum drilling company for the release of the two employees who were abducted by the outfit along with NSCN on December 21 last year.

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“Since the Quippo authorities have miserably failed to negotiate their release, we will have to go by our earlier decision that we will take the final call on fate of the two employees, Ram Kumar and Pranab Kumar Gogoi, next week,” the media communique said.

The outfit has also asked all employees of the company operating in Southeast Asia, including Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, to leave their respective jobs immediately and start looking for other job. “We appeal to all employees associated with Quippo to refrain from joining work with the company from tomorrow and pressurise Quippo, Oil India Ltd, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh governments to accommodate them in other jobs,” the statement said.

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“If anybody still wants to continue working for Quippo, he/she will be responsible for his or her own security in case of any untoward incident,” the statement added.

The families of the two employees had recently paid a visit to ULFA (I) chief Paresh Baruah’s ancestral home at Jeraigaon in Dibrugarh district. They knelt before Baruah’s brother Bimal Baruah begging him to convince Paresh Baruah to release the bread earners of their respective families.