Assam police say ULFA-I mass-casualty attack foiled in Tinsukia district
Assam police say they have foiled what they described as a planned mass-casualty attack in Tinsukia district after arresting two armed cadres of the United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent). The arrests were made on Friday in Jagun, a town in the district, and were announced publicly on Saturday. Police said the men were carrying weapons and supplies when they were detained.
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The two suspects were identified by police as self-styled second lieutenants Humenjyoti Baruah, 27, and Papu Moran, 30, both from Tinsukia district. Tinsukia Senior Superintendent of Police Mayank Kumar said the operation was carried out with the assistance of central agencies and security forces. He said preliminary investigation suggested the pair had been tasked by ULFA-I to come to Tinsukia and carry out indiscriminate firing and killings of civilians in the town.
Police said they recovered two AK-56 rifles, 172 rounds of ammunition and two hand grenades from the men. They also seized food supplies, backpacks and other items described as war-like stores, including cash, which investigators said suggested the pair were prepared for prolonged movement in jungle terrain. Kumar said the alleged plan was intended to create fear across the region, and that the operation pointed to the influence of external actors seeking to destabilise the area.
The case is significant because Tinsukia district has long been one of the sensitive areas of Assam's insurgency landscape. ULFA-I, the armed faction led by Paresh Baruah and based in Myanmar, remains outside the peace process that brought the pro-talks faction of ULFA into a tripartite agreement with the Union and state governments in December 2023. The latest arrests therefore sit within a wider security challenge in which armed groups continue to operate across border-linked terrain and target police, military and civilian sites.
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Kumar said the two men were linked to a number of earlier ULFA-I attacks in the region in recent years. He cited an attack on a police commando post at Jagun in March that left four police personnel dead, and an attack on an army camp in Kakopathar in Tinsukia district that injured three personnel. Those allegations have not been independently verified in the supplied material, but they indicate why police are treating the case as more than a routine weapons seizure.
What remains unclear is whether other suspects were involved, how far the alleged plan had progressed, and whether the seized weapons were intended for immediate use. Police have not said whether formal charges have been filed or whether further arrests are expected. The investigation is continuing, and authorities are likely to focus on the group's wider network, its supply lines and any links to previous attacks in the district.
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