- Cops miss kingpin Thapa | ||
Guwahati, April 10 : A top Ulfa militant who is one of the prime suspects in Monday’s blast was taken into custody last night though Assam police kept the arrest under wraps for “strategic reasons”. Mukunda Rajbongshi alias Chilarai, named by Assam director-general of police G.M. Srivastava as one of the three suspects involved in the Maligaon explosion, was arrested in Baksa yesterday. The other two were Akash Thapa and Monohari Rajbongshi. The police, however, narrowly missed the bigger catch — Thapa — the alleged mastermind — in neighbouring Udalguri district, as he was pillion riding in Dalanghat. His PSO, Paresh Das alias Javed, a senior cadre of the outfit and also a wanted criminal, was killed in the encounter. Srivastava confirmed that Rajbongshi was arrested yesterday and that the police had almost got Thapa. He declined to give details of the arrest, saying that might affect investigations. The DGP today also said Mukunda was actually apprehended even before he named him at a news conference yesterday afternoon. “It was done for strategic reasons,” he said. “He is now under interrogation,” Srivastava said. Sources, however, said the police had got a whiff of Thapa’s movements following interrogation of Mukunda. Udalguri superintendent of police A.K. Tiwari said there was information about the movement of Thapa in the Dalanghat and Tangla areas of Udalguri district. “Last night we got information that Akash was pillion riding on a motorcycle at Dalanghat. Subsequently ambushes were laid at various locations. Our men accosted the motorcycle late in the evening. The pillion rider fired at the security personnel when challenged. In the ensuing gunbattle, a militant died,” Tiwari said. Inspector-general of police (law and order) B.J. Mahanta said the militant was believed to be Champak Sharma. “Earlier, we thought he was Champak Sharma, but Javed’s family has now identified his body,” Mahanta said. Javed was a self-styled sergeant major of the 709 battalion of Ulfa. The police recovered a 9mm pistol, two magazines, 18 rounds of ammunition, three mobile phones and incriminating documents from the slain militant. The motorcycle on which the duo were travelling has been seized. The IGP has rushed to Udalguri to monitor search operation for the dreaded militant. Udalguri SP Tiwari said Thapa escaped under cover of darkness. “The paddy fields near the incident site was flooded with water, restricting the movement of our men,” he said. It was a joint operation by the police and the personnel of the 65 Field Regiment of the army. He said the entire area had been cordoned off and search operation launched to apprehend the fugitive. “It is only a matter of time before we apprehend him. He cannot escape,” he said. Thapa was also arrested in the past for his role in the Republic Day Judges Field blast in 2005, but subsequently jumped bail. |
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