Security agencies feared that in times to come, militancy in Assam will be hijacked by these elements and ULFA will only be a facade and a nominal force tagging along. They also fear that ULFA may now seek soft targets like school children and patients. The central agencies are apprehensive that ULFA may become even more desperate. According to the sources, the November 5 blasts at Guwahati and Noonmati were directed at non-Assamese residents.

The gameplan is not difficult to understand. The aim of these attacks was to create an atmosphere of insecurity, cause community-centric divide and precipitate an exodus of non-Assamese out of the state.

Claiming that the ULFA had used the ceasefire to regroup and re-arm itself to take on the armed forces, the sources said that the security forces and the police were aware of the 'ruse' and had warned the state administration in advance. Pointing out that the explosion at Guwahati was known to have been triggered by a "timed and programmable device," they said that the design and technology had probably been provided by militant outfits of Pakistan or Bangladesh. "The recent spate of firing along the Indo-Bangladesh border was probably designed to aid intrusions of militants into Assam with a view to create a Jammu and Kashmir-like situation there," they said.

According to the sources, signs of division have appeared in the ULFA's rank and file with moderates openly coming out against violence and the notion of soverignty. For the ULFA hardliners soverignty now means Assam's integration within a greater Islamic state comprising Bangladesh and Pakistan as a loose confederation," the sources said.

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