Assam: Three ONGC employees abducted by unknown armed militants; ULFA-I role suspected

Guwahati: Three employees of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) were by unknown armed miscreants from a rig site inside a tea estate in Assam’s Sivasagar district on Wednesday.

"3 ONGC employees, 2 Junior Engineer Assistants (Production) & a Junior Technician (Production) have been abducted by unknown armed miscreants in the early hours of 21 April 2021. The abduction took place on a rig site of ONGC in Lakwa field of Sivasagar District," the company said in a tweet.

"The abducted employees were taken by the miscreants in an operational vehicle belonging to ONGC. Later, the vehicle was found abandoned near the Nimonagarh jungles close to the Assam-Nagaland border," ONGC said in another tweet.

“Initial investigation suggests that nearly five armed people came and took away 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.

“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.