Four Assam Police commandos were injured when militants of United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) attacked a police camp in the Jagun area of Tinsukia district around 2.30 am on Sunday, firing rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) shells in a pre-dawn assault that was later claimed by the outfit as a retaliatory operation.
Multiple RPG shells were launched at the camp, of which at least five exploded within the premises, prompting security personnel to retaliate immediately. A brief exchange of gunfire followed before the attackers withdrew from the site.
Preliminary inputs indicate that the attack was carried out by a group of around seven militants, who escaped under the cover of darkness towards the inter-state border with Arunachal Pradesh. Search operations have since been intensified in the area to trace the assailants.
The four injured personnel were shifted to Assam Medical College and Hospital for treatment. Hospital superintendent Dhruvajyoti Bhuyan said all the injured were “out of danger” and in a stable condition.
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In a statement issued later, ULFA(I) claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that it was conducted under its ‘Operation Bujoni’. The outfit described the strike as retaliation against what it termed repeated action by Assam Police against its members, and alleged drone strikes by the Indian Army on its camps last year.
The group maintained that it had refrained from targeting the state police since 2021 as a “gesture” towards peace overtures by the government led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. It, however, alleged that its leaders, cadres and sympathisers continued to be targeted by security agencies.
ULFA(I) also accused the Indian armed forces of carrying out drone and missile strikes on its mobile camps along the India-Myanmar border in July last year. It warned of further retaliatory action and urged the state police to “refrain from subversive activities”.
The attack comes weeks before the Assam Assembly elections scheduled for April 9, raising concerns over security in sensitive districts. Security has been stepped up across upper Assam, with additional forces deployed and surveillance intensified in vulnerable areas to prevent further incidents.
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