Assam army camp attack: NIA charge sheets ULFA(I) chief, 5 others

The NIA special court in Guwahati charge-sheeted the six accused under various criminal offences, relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Explosives Substances Act, the agency stated in a release

Guwahati: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday filed a charge sheet against Paresh Baruah, the chief of the banned terror outfit, the United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) (ULFA-I), and five others in connection with the attack on an army camp located at Kakopathar in Tinsukia district of Assam on November 22 last year, officials said.

(Representative Photo)

The NIA special court in Guwahati charge-sheeted the six accused under various criminal offences, relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Explosives Substances Act, the agency stated in a release. 

Besides Baruah, the other accused named in the charge sheet as key conspirators and executors of the attack are Arunodoy Dohutia, Saurabh Asom, Abhijit Gogoi, Porag Bora and Bijoy Moran. Bora and Moran were arrested in early December last year from the Tinsukia district while the other accused are absconding.

According to the charge sheet, two motor-cycle-borne youths had lobbed two grenades at the army camp on the evening of November 22, 2023. “No one was injured in the assault, which was part of a bigger conspiracy to kill or injure army personnel through a series of grenade attacks on army camps across the state,” the NIA release said. 

The agency stated that Baruah and Dohutia had “masterminded the conspiracy” and had deputed two of the outfit’s cadres to carry out multiple attacks on army camps in Assam. 

“It was further found that Abhijit Gogoi had coordinated the entire planning, preparation and execution of the attack in the instant case”, the release stated. Gogoi is accused of conspiring with Moran who in turn recruited a local youth to carry out the attack. 

According to the NIA investigations, the ULFA(I) has been using social media platforms to recruit “vulnerable youth” to the outfit. Further investigations into the case are underway to identify other conspirators and to expose the entire terror network, the agency added. 

“The proscribed outfit was involved in planning and executing terror attacks in furtherance of its extremist and separatist ideology”, the NIA further said.

Investigations are in progress to identify other conspirators and associates of the accused involved in the attack and to expose the complete terror network, it stated.