Couldn't Phul Chand Ram have been rescued alive? A day after the Food Corporation of India (FCI) executive director was killed in the cross-fire between ULFA militants and security forces, this is the question that many are asking here.

The Assam Police claim that they did not know that Ram was holed up with the militant group that had taken shelter in a farmer’s house in Borka-Panitema village.

“We did not have any information about Ram being present in the house that our forces raided,” said Assam Police Director-General R N Mathur. “The only information that we had was that a group of militants was holed up in that house since Tuesday. We would have been very cautious if we had information that he (Ram) was also there,” he added.

According to the DGP, it was only after the police entered the house after about three hours of exchange of fire that they found three bullet-ridden bodies, one of which was later identified as Ram, who was abducted

by ULFA militants on April 17.

“We had no information that the militants had shifted Ram to that area. Otherwise, we could have chalked out a foolproof strategy to rescue him,” echoed Khagen Sharma, IGP (Special Branch), Assam Police. He added that it would not have been difficult to cordon off the village and pin down the militants.

The Assam Police has come under severe criticism for the manner in which it has handled the issue. First, there was the case of wrong identification when a body dug out from Annadapur village in Baksa district on June 30 was said to be that of Ram. But on July 10, the police admitted that the body was that of an ex-serviceman who had also been killed by ULFA militants. The same day, ULFA commander Hira Saraniya had called up local dailies alleging that the government was plotting to kill Ram in an “encounter”.

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