NIA arrests ULFA(I) operative for planting IEDs in Guwahati on I-Day

GUWAHATI, Dec 17: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested a key operative of the outlawed ULFA(I) in connection with the recovery of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) from various places during the 2024 Independence Day celebrations.

A team of the NIA with the active support of Assam Police carried out searches at the house of Jahnu Baruah alias Arnab Axom in Dibrugarh in the early hours of Monday morning and took him into custody for planting the explosives in Guwahati, a release issued by the investigating agency stated.

Several incriminating materials, including digital devices, were seized during a search conducted at his house and are currently under examination, the release added, stating that he was summoned to the local police station for further examination.

Jahnu Barua was later arrested after following due procedure, the NIA release added.

During preliminary investigation, the accused confessed to his involvement in planting four of the 11 IEDs that were recovered by the Assam Police during the I-Day celebrations. The IEDs had been planted as part of the military protest and I-Day boycott call by ULFA(I) chief Paresh Baruah in a video, which had warned of dire consequences for anyone disobeying the instructions.

Jahnu Baruah, who planted the four IEDs at Pan Bazar, Dispur, Gandhi Mandap and Satgaon in Guwahati, had been under surveillance and monitoring for the past several weeks. He was one of the several suspects identified by NIA, based on technical and human intelligence, as being involved in the collection and transportation of the IEDs that were planted to trigger large-scale explosions in Assam on the occasion of I-Day, causing loss to property and life and inciting terror in the state.

NIA had taken over the investigation of the case from Assam Police on September 17 and found that the IEDs were planted at the behest of Aishang Asom alias Abhijit Gogoi and other top leaders of ULFA(I).