NEW DELHI: A day after the Union Government called off the six-week-old ceasefire with the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and instructed the Army to resume operations against it, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday said the militant outfit was never serious about peace talks.

However, he expressed the hope that the ULFA would give up the path of violence and opt for talks.

"I appeal to the ULFA to change its strategy. It is only harming the interests of Assam. I am still hopeful that it will come for talks for ushering in an era of peace and progress in the State," he told reporters here.

The Centre had unilaterally suspended operations against the ULFA in an attempt to give it time to send a written commitment and assurance for participating in direct talks, but the group did not avail of the opportunity.

Mr. Gogoi said civilian killings and incidents of extortion, in a period till August 31 this year, had gone up compared to the same period last year. There were 64 civilian killings till August 31, 2005, against 86 till August 31, 2006. The number of extremists killed was 53 last year, against 29 till August 31 this year. The number of security personnel killed also went up from five last year to 16 till August-end.

"Indications till today are that the ULFA is not serious about talks with the Government. There is no positive signal that it is serious about negotiations. Insurgency has pushed Assam into economic backwardness. During the period when operations were suspended against the ULFA, it took to extortion and killings of civilians. It was not serving the State's interest or furthering the cause for peace and progress," Mr. Gogoi said.

Army focus on Upper Assam, Arunachal

In its renewed operations against the ULFA, the Army is concentrating on the group's strongholds in the Upper Assam area of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Nalbari as well as in contiguous areas of Arunachal Pradesh where the outfit is believed to have set up bases during the ceasefire.

The aim is to restore confidence among tea planters, targeted for extortion by the ULFA, and sanitise the area's oil installations as well as clearing a path to Roing district in Arunachal Pradesh, where a 4,500 MW power plant is to be set up.

Access to the lower Dibang valley is through Tinsukia, where the ULFA's 28th battalion is very active, sources said here.

Apart from utilising the bases of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) in Myanmar, the ULFA is believed to have set up hideouts in Terpa, Changla, Lohit and Lower Dibang areas of Arunachal Pradesh.

The focus of the current Army offensive is to cut access from these bases to ULFA's operating areas in Upper Assam, an area virtually cleared of militants, following the Bhutan Army's crackdown on camps on its territory supplemented by strong Indian Army action along the international border.

The Army also plans to focus on Lower Assam districts where it believes the ULFA has carved an access route to Bangladesh through Meghalaya for bringing funds and ammunition.

In fact, the Meghalaya Police is said to have arrested ULFA militants last week with a "huge amount" of cash.

Leading units

The Army's 2nd and 5th Divisions are spearheading the operations with the focus more on the former's 81st and 82nd Mountain Brigades headquartered at Tinsukia in Assam and Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh respectively.

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