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RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 2292

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KOLKATA 000056 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PINR EAIR ASEC PK IN
SUBJECT: ASSAM POLICE CLAIM TO THWART AIRPLANE HIJACK ATTEMPT BY 
ULFA 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  On February 9, Assam Police claimed to have 
thwarted plans to hijack a Deccan Air plane, with the arrest of 
three suspects.  The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), 
alleged by the Assam police to be backed by the Pakistani 
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), planned to hijack a plane 
from Guwahati airport to Thimpu, Bhutan, and then to Pakistan. 
The young men were reportedly trained in a remote, forested area 
on the India-Bhutan border by unidentified "outsiders." 
Information from one of the arrested, ULFA member Manoj Tamuly, 
led to arrests of lawyer Nekibur Zaman, human rights activist 
Lachit Bordoloi, journalist Pradeep Gogoi and Deccan Air ground 
staff Suman Datta for alleged involvement in the planned 
hijacking.  Local police often abuse detainees during 
interrogation, rendering confessions suspect.  However, ULFA is 
violently active in Assam, has previously attacked the rail 
network, and would be capable of planning and attempting a 
hijacking.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Assam Police claimed to have thwarted a hijacking plan 
with the arrest of three suspects.  Inspector General (Special 
Branch) Khagen Sharma said that ULFA, allegedly backed by the 
Pakistan's ISI, planned to hijack a plane from Guwahati airport 
to Thimpu, Bhutan, and then to Pakistan.  On February 9, ULFA 
member Manoj Tamuly was arrested in Guwahati with a pistol and 
four rounds of ammunition.  Assam Inspector General (Law and 
Order) Chandranathan told Post that Tamuly was detained 
initially for his plot to kill a police superintendent.  During 
interrogations, he revealed the hijacking plans and named a 
number of people involved.  The list of suspects included lawyer 
Nekibur Zaman, human rights activist Lachit Bordoloi, journalist 
Pradeep Gogoi and Deccan Air ground staff Suman Datta.  All have 
been arrested.  Sharma told Post that a group of 16 young men - 
four at a time -- had been trained in the jungles on the 
India-Bhutan border by unidentified "outsiders" and 
Chandranathan claimed ISI played a major role in the training. 
A small proto-type of an aircraft was used to familiarize the 
trainees of technical details.  The trainees later boarded real 
flights for familiarization.  According to Chandranathan, the 
aim of a hijacking was to get jailed ULFA members as well as 
suspected Muslim militants presently jailed in Assam released. 
Sharma said that airports have been on high alert for over a 
month because police had some intimation of a possible hijacking 
plan.  Airport security has been increased and the high alert 
remains as police continue to investigate for more details 
regarding the hijacking attempt. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Chandranathan observed that police had expected the 
smaller Assam airports, with less adequate infrastructure to be 
more vulnerable than Guwahati, but the larger airport in the 
state capital was in fact the target.  The trainers for the 
hijacking were Hindi-speakers and not locals and are believed to 
no longer be in Assam.  The arrested Deccan Air staff, Suman 
Datta, had been under suspicion since January, even before 
Tamuly's arrest.  The militants trained Datta how to smuggle 
weapons and explosives into the airport and aircraft. 
Chandranathan admitted that despite a strict vigil and high 
alert among officials and airport staff, the airport security 
standards are not foolproof because of the inadequate 
infrastructure. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) On February 11, police arrested Bordoloi in Dibrugarh 
district in connection with the ULFA hijack plot.  Bordoloi is 
convener of the human rights group Manab Adhikar Suraksha Samiti 
(MASS) and one of the People's Consultative Group (PCG) that has 
been trying to facilitate peace talks between the GOI and ULFA. 
Sharma said evidence of correspondence between Tamuly and 
Bordoloi were found, although there are other cases against him 
too.  On February 10, police detained a Guwahati High Court 
lawyer Nekibur Zaman for alleged involvement in the planned 
hijack.  Most of the cases handled by Zaman in court were 
related to the ULFA.  Zaman was hospitalized after he was 
injured while trying to escape from the police.  The same day, 
police arrested Datta, an employee of Shija Tours, the ground 
handling agent of Deccan.  Gogoi was arrested for helping the 
militants enter Guwahati.  On February 12, all were produced in 
court by the police to seek a 14-day custody. 
 
 
KOLKATA 00000056  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) ULFA, however, contacted the media and issued a denial 
of the hijacking conspiracy and claimed that this was a campaign 
by security officials to scuttle the possibility of a peace 
process in Assam.  On February 14, Union Cabinet Secretary K.M. 
Chandrasekhar along with Union Defense Secretary Vijay Singh and 
Special Secretary in the Union Home Ministry M.L. Kumawat 
visited Guwahati reportedly to determine the course of peace 
efforts with the ULFA.  They also participated in a meeting of 
the Unified Command for counter-insurgency operations and 
reviewed the law and order situation in Assam. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Comment:  Assam police allegations of ISI support to 
ULFA in the hijacking plot are difficult to assess.  ConGen has 
met with former northeast ethnic insurgents who have readily 
admitted receiving support from Pakistan in the past.  So, some 
links between ISI and ULFA are possible.  While the standard 
police practice of forcing confessions during interrogation 
makes any admissions of guilt or conspiracies suspect, ULFA has 
a clear record of terrorist attacks on transportation and other 
security sites.  Its attacks on the transportation network have 
focused on trains and train stations but given the increase of 
regional flights in the northeast, a plane hijacking may have 
been seen as a natural progression in ULFA's terrorist campaign. 
JARDINE