ULFA releases one of two abducted Quippo employees

GUWAHATI: The Paresh Baruah faction of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) has released one of the two kidnapped employees of New Delhi-based oil exploration firm Quippo Oil and Gas Infrastructure Limited.

The Arunachal Pradesh Police found Pranab Kumar Gogoi (51) at a village near the India-Myanmar border in Changlang district. The police said there was no trace of the other abducted employee, Ram Kumar (35), who hails from Bihar.

“We are interrogating him (Gogoi) but he has not been able to say where his colleague is. He said they had been kept in different locations for the past month,” Changlang Superintendent of Police, Mihin Gambo said.

Gogoi was engaged as a drilling superintendent while Kumar was the radio operator.

They were abducted from their workplace on December 21. Later, the ULFA had demanded Rs 20 crore and set February 16 as the deadline for the ransom.

Earlier, Baruah threatened to take the “ultimate step” against the duo when the firm refused to pay the ransom. After facing a backlash for the threat, the ULFA then set a new condition -- the firm would have to create 5,000 jobs for the Assamese youth.