By IANS
Guwahati : The Assam police is hot on the trail of sympathisers of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) following the sensational revelation by an arrested militant about the outfit’s plans to hijack a plane.
Police Sunday put under scanner a noted Guwahati-based advocate Nekibur Zaman and rights leader Lahit Bordoloi – Zaman’s mobile telephone was seized and Bordoloi’s residence raided.
The police action follows a confessional statement by Monoj Tamuly, an ULFA militant arrested Saturday from near Guwahati.
“Tamuly’s confessional statement is sensational and the latest action is a result of his inputs to police during interrogation,” a police official told IANS, requesting anonymity.
The arrested ULFA rebel disclosed plans by the outfit to hijack a plane for which cadres received specialised 18-day training somewhere in western Assam about six months ago.
“Plans to hijack a plane was hatched and we also met in New Delhi with some of our top leaders to discuss this (hijacking plan) on Nov 14 last year,” Tamuly told IANS Sunday while being brought to court in Guwahati.
Based on confessional statements of Tamuly and another ULFA rebel arrested a couple of months back, police Sunday trailed Zaman’s vehicle. Out of fear, the advocate tried to evade the police and scale a wall.
“I thought someone was trailing my car and in a rush to enter my residence I tried scaling the wall and tripped, leading to a fractured leg,” Zaman said. “This is nothing but a conspiracy to malign me.”
Police cordoned off the hospital where Zaman is currently admitted before seizing his mobile phone for going through his call details.
“There were charges that Zaman and Bordoloi had a nexus with the ULFA, based on some specific inputs. We have not yet arrested them, but are likely to question the duo,” the police official said.
The ULFA, however, rejected reports of the outfit hatching any hijack plan.
“We have no such plans to hijack a plane nor have our cadres taken any training for this. This is nothing but a propaganda by the state authorities,” ULFA publicity member Rubi Bhuyan said in an e-mailed statement.
Meanwhile, security at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati has been tightened following the reports.