Insurgents abduct 3 ONGC employees in Assam’s Sivasnagar

THE BANNED ULFA-I OUTFIT IS BELIEVED TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ABDUCTION

GUWAHATI: Three employees of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) were abducted by suspected insurgents from a rig site at the premises of a tea estate in Assam’s Sivasagar district on Wednesday.

“Initial investigation suggests that nearly five armed people came and abducted the ONGC employees from the site. The modus operandi makes us suspect that it is the handiwork of insurgents,” said Amitabh Sinha, police superintendent, Sivasagar.

Officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the banned United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) could be responsible for the abduction.

The abducted employees were identified as junior engineer assistants (production) Retul Saikia and Mohini Mohan Gogoi, and junior technician (production) Alakesh Saikia -- all from Assam. According to police, armed insurgents entered the tea estate in a van used as an ambulance by ONGC and abducted the employees on gunpoint. They van was later recovered close to the Assam-Nagaland border, around 11km away.

“Our efforts are underway to trace and rescue the abducted employees. We are taking help of various agencies as well as Nagaland police since it is likely that they were taken to the neighbouring state,” said Sinha.

The state-run firm said it was in touch with authorities over the incident. “3 ONGC employees, 2 junior engineer assistants (production) and a junior technician (production) have been abducted,” ONGC tweeted on Wednesday.