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North East: Assam - FCI official killed - It is all out war against ULFA now

	July 02, 2007

Seventy-four days after ULFA militants abducted Food Corporation of India’s executive director in charge of the North-east, P.C. Ram, police on June 30 exhumed his body from a pit at Anandapur village on the bank of the Mora-Pagladia in Assam’s Baksa district.



A senior police official involved in the search operations for Ram said “it is better to be 100 per cent sure in such cases”, but added that they were practically certain the body was his.



The body was recovered in the presence of a magistrate from a deserted spot under Borbori police outpost, which is located in the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts. It was later taken to Nalbari civil hospital for post-mortem. Police said it would be kept in Guwahati till Ram’s next of kin arrive.



According to Baksa superintendent of police Kongkonjyoti Saikia, the body was probably buried some six to seven days back.

“It was exhumed and brought to the police station, where it was identified by the FCI official’s adopted daughter,” Saikia said.



A team of senior FCI officials and union leaders, who rushed to Nalbari when the news broke, too have identified the body.



Police sources suspect that Ram was strangled to death since there were ligature marks on the neck. There were also injury marks on the abdomen.



Ram’s body was recovered after four ULFA militants were arrested in Baksa district on Thursday. The police said the rebels were helping the “core group” which had been holding Ram captive.



Sources said Ram had probably been slain as he had become a burden for the militant group after operations were intensified, slowing down their movements. The post-mortem report, released on June 30 said the victim’s throat was slit and he was stabbed in the back.



“He was killed five to six days ago,” a senior police officer said. He claimed that Ram’s family had paid a “huge sum” in the first installment of the ransom, and the kidnappers had promised to free their hostage after receiving the second one.



“What is shocking is that an ULFA militant called up Ram’s son Pravin in Ghaziabad this (June 30) afternoon asking for the second installment.” Pravin denied both the payments and the phone call.



Ram was abducted with his driver Rabiram Basumatary while returning from his office to his apartment on April 17. The driver was freed near Barpeta town a few days later.



The ULFA was said to have asked for a Rs 21-crore ransom immediately after the abduction. It later demanded the release of two of its jailed “battalion commanders” - Mrinal Hazarika and Pallav Saikia - in exchange for Ram’s freedom.





Worst fears come true for kin



When the news flash came on a TV channel, Pravin Ram broke out in a cold sweat. It was all over, their wait had been in vain. Then he looked at his mother and sister who had been watching the TV with him, shock writ large on their faces.



Ram’s colleagues at FCI said they were particularly upset by the inability of security forces to trace the hostage over the past two months.



“We are shocked. But let me say this: no matter what the terrorists do, our supplies to the Northeast will not be affected. That is our commitment,” FCI managing director Alok Sinha asserted.



The north-eastern states have traditionally been dependent on FCI for their supplies of grains.



FCI will soon decide on payment of compensation to Ram’s family, Sinha said.





It is all out against ULFA now



Dispur has ordered security forces to go all out against ULFA in Lower Assam on the heels of the killing of senior Food Corporation of India (FCI) official P.C. Ram.



Operations against the outfit had already been intensified in Upper Assam. A state Home Department official said the incident had come as a big shock to Dispur. He said there would be no looking back now. “Earlier, security personnel were being careful during operations because we were concerned about Ram’s safety. Now, we will go all out against the militants.”



The Tarun Gogoi government was under tremendous pressure from New Delhi for the safe release of Ram. Sources said the Chief Minister, who is abroad, has issued instructions to security forces to go all out against militants after he was informed of Ram’s death. Strategies for operations in Lower Assam will be discussed at a meeting of the Unified Command scheduled to be held within a couple of days, sources said.





Delhi gives up on ULFA talks



In New Delhi, the Union Government has ruled out any chance of restarting peace process with the banned militant outfit. “Forget a dialogue with the ULFA leadership, Delhi is not even keen to revive the peace process that collapsed earlier this year,” said a source.



A highly-placed source in the Home Ministry said on June 26 that the government has had enough of ULFA’s “refusal to look at matters from perspective and unnecessarily hankering over issues that can be sorted out once the two sides meet”.



Another reason for putting talks on the backburner “indefinitely” is the militant group’s violent ways, including attacks on unarmed civilians.



“ULFA has started targeting public places, leading to civilian casualties. This is totally unacceptable. The outfit’s favourite pastime now is to make a hue and cry over the government’s insincerity over the talks. But what is its contribution to reviving the peace process ?” the source asked.



On whether that meant Delhi, too, would not make any effort to initiate a dialogue, he said the peace process itself was “no longer on our agenda.”



The government will, however, not discourage peacemakers like writer Mamoni Raisom Goswami from trying to bring ULFA to the negotiating table. Goswami recently picked up the gauntlet thrown by Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, making clear her willingness to walk the extra mile to bring ULFA leaders to the table. Gogoi had criticised her for not making any attempt to meet the outfit’s leadership, calling into question her sincerity and neutrality.



When the writer offered to “go abroad” to meet the ULFA leaders, Dispur said it would do everything “within its means” to help her, including convincing Delhi to back her plan.



But the Home Ministry source said nothing would come of such efforts if ULFA remained insincere. “We have better things to do than go on persuading a group of people who do not seem to be serious about finding a negotiated settlement,” he added.



On ULFA’s demand for the release of five of its jailed leaders, the source said the outfit had done little more than set a condition. “They have to first convince us that they will talk if their people are released.”



An official of the state home department confirmed that the latest ULFA-triggered bomb blast - six persons died and many were injured in the incident at Machkhowa in Guwahati - had angered Delhi. “The Centre’s curt message to the state government after the Machkhowa blast was: `Go after them’.”



The official said Dispur would draw up another plan to deal with ULFA. “How we will do it will be decided after chief minister Tarun Gogoi returns from his tour of the US and the UK.”





4 killed, 65 injured in bomb blasts



In yet another act of insurgency, four persons were killed and about 65 injured when ULFA militants triggered four powerful explosions in Tinsukia and Karbi Anglong districts of Assam on June 30.



The police said that three persons were killed and 20 others injured when suspected ULFA ultras triggered two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) within ten minutes at a daily fish market in Tinsukia district in eastern Assam. Another blast triggered by militants in front of a temple in Diphu town of Karbi Anglong hill district left seven persons injured.



The twin blasts at Tinsukia market which is located near the town police station, evoked sharp and loud reactions from the people of the area who came out on the road to confront senior police officials raising slogans against the police and security forces for failing to protect lives and property of common people.