Paresh Barua escapes yet another bid on life

Kolkata, March 6: United Liberation Front of Asom commander-in-chief Paresh Barua escaped yet another bid on his life on Thursday evening when a group of six assailants attacked his vehicle in Dhaka. Barua lost his right-hand man in Bangladesh, Hossain Rumy, in the attack. Rumy was the ULFA frontman in Bangladesh, into whose bank account all ULFA funds have been deposited so far. A top Intelligence Bureau official told TheNewspaperToday that the attack was carried out mainly by surrendered ULFA cadres and some hired assailants from Bangladesh, guided by Indian security personnel. According to Bangladesh government sources, Barua was attacked at around 7.45 pm when he was about to step into the grey Toyota Landcruiser which he usually uses in Bangladesh. The attack took place at Dhaka's posh Gulshan area, when Barua and his three associates were coming out of the Basin Leaf Restaurant. Barua's driver, Akram Quadir, also sustained serious injuries. According to sources in the Gulshan Police Station in Bangladesh, two dead bodies have been removed from the site after the shootout. Six assailants converged on the Toyota Landcruiser on motorcycles from three different directions and fired 34 rounds from their revolvers, which were fitted with silencers. He (Paresh) escaped very luckily, since he was on the side of the vehicle which we had kept open to protect our boys from diagonal fire. But we suspect that the ULFA leader has also sustained some injuries, a top intelligence officer in Assam told TheNewspaperToday. When the attack took place, Barua's personal bodyguard, Sonowal immediately returned fire. He also took over the steering of the Landcruiser, after he saw that Akram was hurt and bleeding profusely and drove it to safety, despite a 10-minute-chase by the assailants. TheNewspaperToday was the first to report the bid on life of the chief of the banned militant outfit two-and-a-half months ago, on December 15 in Bangladesh, where two hardcore ULFA guerrillas were killed and one seriously injured in an ambush by an armed group on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. Barua is hiding in Bangladesh along with his colleague and ULFA co-founder, Rajiv Konwar, better known as Arobindo Rajkhowa. G.M. Srivastava, Assam's additional Director-General of Police, told TheNewspaperToday over phone from Guwahati on Monday that they are still looking details of the encounter. Presently, it seems to be some business rivalry with local goons or perhaps some rival factions within the ULFA, Srivastava said. Indian counter-insurgency forces are desperately trying to put a full-stop on the ULFA movement, which seems to have lost the mass-support which it used to enjoy in Assam.