A day after the outlawed Ulfa rebels threatened a Congress leader, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday presented a brave front by asserting that the ruling party was not afraid of Ulfa threat.
Accusing the elusive Ulfa chief Paresh Baruah of having nexus with foreign agencies, Mr Gogoi told reporters, “Such threats are not new to the party workers. They are capable of resisting such threat of Paresh Baruah who does not want peace and development of the state.”
The chief minister said this while reacting to the Ulfa’s offensive against the Congress party workers. Earlier on Monday, three armed Ulfa rebels had stormed into the house of senior Congress leader Bhola Shah at Tengapani in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district and fired indiscriminately.
The police said that Mr Shah was not at home during the attack and the militants tried abducting his son. However, there were no injuries and the kidnapping attempt was foiled as the son of the Congress leader managed to give the slip and fled.
The incident has created panic among the party workers as it has come close on the heels of Ulfa’s statement threatening to attack Congress leaders and warning people against participating in the rallies of the Congress party in the run-up to the Assembly elections.
The Ulfa statement said the Congress was responsible for dividing the outfit, luring some leaders into holding peace talks with the government.