Guwahati, November 01: The Guwahati police have recovered a huge consignment of arms and ammunition, arguably the biggest in the city this year last night and arrested three persons including two associates of the banned ULFA.

On the other hand police informed that the PLA cadre arrested from the city on Monday is identified as Gyaneswar Singh and added that another three suspected PLA cadres were arrested from the city.

"We are on the look out for one Babu Khan, one of the top PLA leaders.

Khan has been staying with Singh in the city but he managed to escape," said the Additional Superintendent of Police Rajen Singh.

Police have also recovered a laptop, video camera, digital camera and some incriminating documents from the possession of the arrested PLA leader, Rajen Singh said and added that the three were arrested from a rented house near Down Town hospital in Guwahati.

Meanwhile the consignment which was on transit to Tinsukia from Meghalaya capital included nine M20 pistols along with 18 magazines, 80 rounds of M20 ammunition, 16 Austrian made hand grenade, eight kgs of PE3A explosives used in making Programmable Times Explosive Device (PTED) and 450 rounds of live ammunition.

The two arrested over ground workers of the banned outfit were identified as Prabal Chetia and Basanta Deka, police said and added that the other person arrested is identified as Birendra Mahato, driver of the Bolero vehicle in which the consignment was coming.

"We waylaid at Jorabat in the Assam-Meghalaya border following a tip-off that a consignment belonging to the 29th battalion of the Ulfa was on its way to Tinsukia from Shillong", said Senior Superintendent of Police (City) Nitul Gogoi.

"We intercepted the Bolero vehicle (AS 23E-1560) and recovered the arms and ammunition hidden in sacks," said Gogoi while adding that Chetia and Mahato were arrested from there.

Later Deka was arrested from Japorigog area in the city, the SSP said adding that Deka used to give shelter to the cadres of the outfit.

Chetia has confessed that he was assigned to take the consignment to Tinsukia by the commander of the outfit's 29th battalion Prabal Neog alias Benu Bora, the SSP said.

"It is suspected that the consignment was actually coming from Bangladesh and it reached Shillong through the Cherrapunjee route in Meghalaya," Gogoi said and added that Chetia has been working for the outfit for a long time.

"Chetia is a small tea grower based in Jyotinagar at Makum in Tinsukia district.

He owns a tea estate of about 85 bighas of land," said the SSP while adding that interrogation is on to trace more clues regarding the outfit.

Comment