Ulfa denies hand, HuJI suspected in Assam-Guwahati Serial Blasts

[rahul_parab2006]

Ulfa denies hand, HuJI suspected


NEW DELHI: The security establishment is veering around to the view that the serial blasts in Assam were the handiwork of Islamist terrorists, most probably belonging to the HuJI — Harkat-ul-Jehad Islami.

Even before the local Ulfa (United Liberation Front of Asom) denied its involvement, sources within the security establishment were ruling them and other north-eastern insurgent groups out as the culprits.

The blasts couldn’t have been carried out without logistical support from across the border in Bangladesh, they believe, but in the volatile scenario of Assam nobody is ready to hazard any further guesses. The situation complicated by the fact that intelligence agencies do not yet have any concrete inputs to suspect a specific group. From the timing, size and impact of the blasts, analysts and officers dealing with terrorism cases are convinced that it is not the handiwork of Ulfa.

PTI quoted IGP (Special Branch) Khagen Sharma as saying, “The needle of suspicion points to jehadi outfits who are behind subversive activities in the state.”

He said HuJI could be working in groups or individually. “While investigations will go on, the police have been zeroing in on Islamist fundamentalist forces which of late have been active in the state and the region,” he said.

The historic tension between the Muslims, especially the migrants from Bangladesh, and the local inhabitants has been exploding frequently in recent times. Communal violence broke out early this month, leaving more than 30 dead.

The tension between the locals and the migrants - they have altered the demography of many districts — has been palpable since the 1920s when they started to move into Assam in large numbers, and has led to several massacres and bloody rebellions.

Former home minister LK Advani too touted the same line. “It again highlights the issue of Bangladeshi illegal immigrants in the country,” Advani told reporters. It is another matter that the Vajpayee government, like all its predecessors and its successor, had failed to initiate any effective strategy to counter illegal immigration.

Assessments put the total number of illegal Bangladeshis in India at several millions. In the recent weeks, tensions between the migrants and the locals have erupted, with riots gripping Darrang and Udalguri districts of Assam.

In recent times, there have been clear trends emerging of the migrant groups taking to very aggressive means, including bomb blasts. Intelligence agencies believe the migrant population also provides very good cover for terror activities by groups such as HuJI.

The migrant population is both a cover and logistical support centres for terrorists who come in from Bangladeshi and move into the hinterlands, believe the intelligence agencies. Because of these linkages, sources here also point out that the serial blasts must be read in conjecture with the developments in other parts of the country, especially police success in Mumbai and elsewhere in tracking down some key members of Indian Mujahideen.

“It is well possible that they have chosen a safer place to carry out their revenge,” says one officer. The local tensions, recent developments and the porous border with Bangladesh may have just provided further fire power.