ULFA role in Hasina attack?

DHAKA: Bangladesh has ordered its intelligence agencies and its mission in New Delhi to probe the allegation that the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) had launched attack on a rally of Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka. The government has asked its Criminal Investigation Department to verify a reported confession of a ULFA commander that the outfit was behind the deadly attack in August 2004 that killed 23 in the Bangladesh capital, said Home Secretary Abdul Karim.

On the other hand, Bangladesh has asked its High Commission in New Delhi to contact the External Affairs Ministry to get a copy of the reported statement by the ULFA commander. The ULFA has, however, dismissed the claim as nonsense as it said it does not interfere into the internal affairs of a foreign country. Investigation into the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally has dipped into mystery following the news item that quoted a commander of Assam’s insurgent group ULFA as saying their men made the attack “with the help of Bangladeshi intelligence agencies”.

The news released by a Bangladeshi private news agency from Guwahati said ULFA commander Pallav Saikia confessed that his group was behind the attack. The new claim has created controversy among intelligence officials in Dhaka and raised questions about its authenticity. It also contradicted a few previous disclosures made by the Bangladeshi investigators since the attack.

Judicial confessions of Joz Mia, Shafiqul Islam Shafiq and Abul Hashem Rana in 2005 linked top criminals of Bangladesh Subrata Bain, Khondoker Tanvir Islam Joy and Molla Masud along with others. A Harkatul Jihad (Huji) operative also claimed last year that the Islamist militant group was behind the attack.

The criminal investigation department has not yet found any clue that goes with the ULFA claim, said Assistant Superintendent Munshi Atiqur Rahman, who has been involved in the investigation since the attack. But Home Secretary Abdul Karim said, “We will decide what to do after we get the information.”

Twenty people were arrested after the attack but 17 of them were released as the allegation against them had “no merit”. The rest three gave statements admitting their involvement in the attack. The one-member government judicial inquiry commission of Justice Joynul Abedin linked a foreign enemy with the attack but his report was not made public. The incident is a stark attack on the independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh, Justice Joynul Abedin had told reporters.