Dibrugarh: With the state assembly elections just days ahead, the United Liberation Front of Asom–Independent (Ulfa-I) early on Sunday morning sent shock waves through the state’s security establishment as it attacked the Assam Police commando battalion camp at the 10th Mile area of Jagun in Tinsukia district, injuring four commandos.The attack, which the outfit has since claimed responsibility for, took place approximately at 2.05 am when Ulfa-I cadres unleashed a barrage of rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) on the camp. According to sources, the attackers fired four to five RPGs in quick succession, triggering multiple explosions, which lit up the night sky. The assailants also opened fire with automatic weapons, drawing a fierce retaliatory response from the commandos inside. Firing continued for at least 45 minutes before the Ulfa-I cadres managed to slip away into the surrounding darkness.In a statement, released few hours after the incident, Ulfa-I self-styled Major Nirnay Asom, secretary of the outfit’s publicity wing, claimed responsibility for the attack, terming it as a “military operation”. Calling the attack “Operation Bujoni”, the statement described it as a deliberate and planned military strike in retaliation to the killings of several Ulfa-I leaders and members by security forces over the last few years.The four injured commandos — Chittaranjan Mili, Debashish Bora, Rabi Garh and Jimbush Marak — were rushed to Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) for treatment, while weapons, belonging to the commandos, were also reported to have been damaged in the RPG blasts.While investigators recovered two spent RPG shells and one unexploded RPG shell from the scene, security was significantly beefed up along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh interstate border, which lies approximately 12 km from the attack site.“A massive search and cordon operation has been launched across Tinsukia, focusing on the Jagun–Jairampur corridor. The entire area has been put on high alert,” Tinsukia SSP Mayank Kumar said.Condemning the attack, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was in Haflong, said, “The Army and the police have launched a counter-insurgency operation. I think those who have done this will be certainly be caught.”
