Monday, February 11, 2008 (Guwahati)

It's a significant breakthrough, or so the Assam police claim after arresting Air Deccan employee Suman Dutta for a hijack plot, that seems to only thicken as the days go by.Two days ago, the police had presented ULFA's Manoj Tamuli and his fianc e as the masterminds of the plot, that included hijacking a plane and killing three politicians.''I underwent training in hijacking from someone who we were told came from Afghanistan. We were trained to use the pen-pistol,'' said Manoj Tamuli, ULFA militant.After interrogating Tamuli, the police also arrested rights activist Lachit Bordoloi for involvement in the plot.Bordoloi, an ULFA sympathizer, was part of the people's consultative group, mediating talks between the ULFA and the government.While many are cynical about the claims of the police about the plot and the alleged culprits, the Army thinks the two arrests have put the ULFA on the back foot.As proof of this they point to the surrender of an ULFA battalion commander in upper Assam. Never before in ULFA's history has there been such a high-level surrender.''When you have surrenders of this nature the adrenalin gets depleted and it has a direct bearing on the motivation. As a military man I think they should come for talks on our terms. ''They must come to designated camps, deposit weapons and talk. In 2006 when we had unconditional ceasefire, they took advantage and consolidated and as a result there was mayhem,'' said Lt Gen B S Jaswal, GoC 4 Corps.The Army's theory that the ULFA is weakening gives them the psychological advantage in what appears to be another round of ''should the government talk to ULFA or not?''The ULFA is sending out feelers, but security forces claims this is not the time for talks but consolidation.