The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent or ULFA (I) has released one of the two employees of a New Delhi-based private oil exploration firm its members had abducted from Arunachal Pradesh more than three months ago.
The police in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh found Assam-based Pranab Kumar Gogoi from Longvi village near the India-Myanmar border. A border patrol team of the Assam Rifles had intercepted him as he was crossing over from Myanmar.
“There is no trace yet of Ram Kumar, the other employee abducted with this person we located,” Changlang’s SP Mihin Gambo told The Hindu.
Mr. Gogoi, 51, was engaged as a drilling superintendent at the Quippo Oil and Gas Infrastructure Limited at the Kumchaika drilling site in Changlang district. Mr. Kumar (35) from Bihar was the radio operator.
“We are interrogating the released person. But he has been unable to say where his colleague is, as they were being kept in separate locations for a month,” Mr. Gambo said.
Members of the ULFA (I) had abducted the two Quippo employees on December 21, 2020 and had set a February 16 deadline for payment of ₹20 crore for their release. Outfits’ commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah later threatened to take the “ultimate step” against them after the firm declined to pay the ransom.
A backlash from intellectuals and common people in Assam made the ULFA (I) tone down its death threat and set Quippo a new condition for their release — creation of 5,000 jobs for Assamese youth.
The ULFA (I) has neither announced Mr. Gogoi’s release nor said a word about Mr. Kumar’s whereabouts.
