A CORRESPONDENT
DIBRUGARH: Two ULFA (I) linkpersons were apprehended in a joint operation near Dibrugarh University in Dibrugarh on Saturday evening. The linkpersons have been identified as Pushpanjali Gogoi and Hema Chetia. Pushpanjali Gogoi hails from Dihing village of Laipuli area of Tinsukia while Hema Chetia hails from Khowang.
“During a joint operation, Rs 3 lakh was seized from Pushpanjali Gogoi while Rs 1,64,000 was seized from Hema Chetia,” said a police official. Talking to media persons, Dibrugarh Superintendent of Police Shwetank Mishra said, “We received a tip-off regarding extortion money which was extorted from businessmen. A joint team of police, Army and CRPF conducted an operation near Dibrugarh University area and successfully apprehended two persons – a woman and a former ULFA (I) cadre.”
“We have seized Rs 3 lakh extortion money from the possesion of Pushpanjali Gogoi. We have also seized Rs 1,64,000 from the possession Hema Chetia. We have started our investigation. The cash which was seized were extorted from businessmen,” the SP said.
Mishra further said, “During interogation, Hema Chetia revealed that more extortion money was kept in his house. A joint team went to his house to seize the extortion money at Tinthengia gaon and an altercation took place. He tried to attack the policemen with a grenade-like thing. To disarm him, the police team fired on his leg. He was admitted at AMCH and is out of danger.”
“We have seized a bottle grenade and Rs 10,000 from his residence. During, interogation, Hema Chetia revealed that he was a former ULFA cadre. Hema Chetia is basically an ULFA (I) linkman and collected extortion money from businessmen and sent the money to other linkmen. Our investigation is going on and more arrests are likely to take place,” said the SP.
Recently, the ULFA (I) had sent an extortion letter to a tea garden located in the Sonari area of the Charaideo district seeking Rs 72 lakh for the outfit’s fund. Police said that the extortion letter, signed by ULFA (I) leader Nayan Asom, was sent to Manoj Gogoi, the manager of Timon Tea Estate in Charaideo via WhatsApp. The extortion letter sought an amount of Rs 72 lakh for organizational fund. No one related to the incident has been apprehended by the police till now and further investigation into the matter is on.
“Extortion letters are being sent by the ULFA (I) but most of the times the victims do no report to the police. ULFA (I) is running with extortion money. Now they use many techniques to extort money from businessmen,” said a source.
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