Ratnadip Choudhury
Guwahati
PHOTO: SHAILENDRA PANDEY
The elite CoBRA (Combat Battalion for Resolute Action) unit of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been pressed into action in Assam to deal with the threat from the anti-peace talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), led by Commander-in-Chief Paresh Baruah.
Baruah had threatened to target Congress leaders and also hit electioneering in the run-up to the 4 April and 11 April assembly election in Assam.
Following the threat, the Congress office in Guwahati was hit by a bomb attack, which injured a few people and destroyed furniture.
The CoBRA force is the same that was used in Maoist-dominated areas and which suffered major blows in Maoist attacks. They have now been asked to stop the men of ULFA in Baruah’s strongholds of Upper Assam.
The highly trained guerrillas of the CoBRA battalion will hunt for special modules of ULFA that are active in Upper Assam. The battalion comprising of around 800 men are said to be given a detailed brief on how Baruah’s men operate, sources said. The Centre had sent the CoBRA unit to Assam earlier, but it kept it a low profile fearing that the news of its use against the ULFA might upset the peace process with the pro-talks faction of the outfit, led by Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa.
The CoBRA troopers have begun area domination operations in certain pockets of Upper Assam.