After two out of three ONGC employees were rescued late Friday, the United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I) on Saturday issued a statement saying that all three employees were handed over to villagers of Totokchingnyu in Nagaland amidst concerns for their safety.
It reiterated that the third employee, Ritul Saikia, may have been killed in crossfire or the army is hiding him.
"Since the security forces have not said anything about the fate of the third person, we suspect that he was either killed or kept hidden by the security forces deliberately," the statement said.
The outfit said that on Friday night, over 500 Indian army personnel, Assam Rifles, and police encircled them and had exchanged fire intermittently through the night.
"On April 20, 2021 night, the ULFA(I) and NSCN had taken three ONGC officials – Mohini Mohan Gogoi, Alakesh Saikia and Ritul Saikia – in their custody. After that, encounters took place from 10 at night to 2.30 am last night between ULFA and more than 500 armed forces personnel led by Indian Army's 73rd Brigade, 35 Assam Rifles and Nagaland Police in effort by ONGC to get them released," ULFA-I spokesperson Rumel Asom said in a statement.
The joint operation was carried out after getting inputs from 14 linkmen, who were apprehended on Friday for aiding the banned outfit in kidnapping the three ONGC employees.
On Tuesday, the ONGC employees were abducted by the outfit from an ONGC rig site at Lakwa field in Sivasagar district. An ONGC ambulance vehicle was used to abduct the employees, the driver of which was released later. The vehicle was found abandoned near Nimonagarh jungle close to Assam-Nagaland border.
