Three policemen held for gun running in Assam

Three police personnel and a member of pro-talks faction of the militant National Democratic Front of Bodoland was arrested along with arms and ammunition on charges of gun running on Thursday.

Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of policemen from Nalbari and Baksa district apprehended the three policemen with arms and ammunition which they were to hand over to the NDFB (pro-talks) member.

The arrested three cops were identified as Gopal Choudhury, Kamini Barman and Bhagawan Sharma while the member of the NDFB (pro-talks) was D Dalai. The arms and ammunition that were recovered are suspected to be stolen from the Assam police arsenal.

The recovered arms and ammunition include a .22 rifle, one 9 mm pistol, and 260 rounds of ammunition. Further investigation was on.

Meanwhile, in another operation, security forces recovered an improvised explosive device weighing about 3 kilograms from a gas pipeline in Sivasagar district of Assam on Thursday.

Police informed that the IED was planted on the gas pipeline at Teokghat Aideobari under Sonari police station. The pipeline used to carry gas from Duliajan in Dibrugarh district to Aideobari and Aideo Pukhuri Tea Estates. The IED was defused by explosive experts of the army.

The security forces have mounted vigil in Upper Assam areas bordering Arunachal Pradesh on the basis of the information that a group of 25 members of the anti-talks faction of the ULFA had entered Assam from the jungles in Arunachal Pradesh jungle to strike terror in the state.

A security source informed that the ULFA (anti-talks) faction led by fugitive commander-in-chief Paresh Barua and in collusion with Maoist elements to strike terror in Upper Assam areas by carrying out subversive activities.