ULFA (I) sets free Quipo employee Pranav Kumar Gogoi after three months in captive; Ram Kumar still missing
From Bhupen Goswam
GUWAHATI : ULFA (I) had kidnapped two employees of a private oil company from Arunachal Pradesh and one of them has been released after 102 days. Sources gave this information. A statement issued by assam rifles said a patrol of the force in south Arunachal Pradesh stopped one person while crossing the Indo-Myanmar border in Changlong district on Saturday. According to the statement, “The person was identified as Pranav Kumar Gogoi, an employee of Quippo Oil and Gas Infra Ltd., who was kidnapped by ULFA (I) on December 21, 2020 from Inau in Arunachal Pradesh. The person has been handed over to arunachal pradesh police in Longavi. Ram Kumar, another employee from Bihar, is yet to be traced.
ULFA (I) claimed responsibility for their abduction, however, the group has not yet issued any statement on the release. A senior Arunachal Pradesh police official said the 51-year-old abducted employee met in Longavi village on Saturday afternoon and after filing a statement at Jayarampur police station, he has been sent for medical examination. After completion of all formalities, they will be handed over to their family. Bihar’s Radio operator Ram Kumar (35), and drilling superintendent of Sivasagar district of Assam, Pranav Kumar Gogoi (51) were kidnapped by a group of terrorists from ULFA and NSCN in December. 21, when he was working at the Kumchika drilling site in Changlang district. All sections of the people, including the families of the employees, had asked the insurgent group to give the highest punishment and withdraw their decision to release them at the earliest.
According to sources, both Gogoi and Kumar spoke to their family through a satellite phone on April 1. Sources said, his health has deteriorated badly while staying at the ULFA camp on the Indo-Myanmar border. ULFA had fixed the deadline of Quipo Oil and Gas Infrastructure Limited on 16th February to secure the release of its employee Kumar. However, the Potriotic People’s Front Assam (PPFA) on Sunday expressed serious concern over the fate of Ram Kumar, one of the employees of Quippo Oil and Gas Infrastructure Ltd., which has not yet been released by ULFA (I). The PPFA expressed concern that the militant outfit has not issued any statement on the release of Kumar, a resident of Bihar. If Ram Kumar were to fall prey to the circumstances, history would never forgive the people of Assam,” ppfa said in a statement. We must raise the voice for their speedy and secure release. “Authorities, civil society groups and ordinary people must unite for their own safety,” the statement added.
