Author: Report
Publication: Rediff.com
Date: January 17, 2006
URL: http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/jan/17ongc.htm
In the latest incident of extremist outfits
arm twisting companies for money, state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
has received a Rs 500-crore extortion threat from the outlawed United Liberation
Front of Assam.
"We received a letter by ordinary mail
a few days back asking for Rs 500 crore and our branch office reported the
matter to the Assam government," an ONGC executive said, adding, "We
have asked the state government to tighten security."
Though the executive said Assam had a law
and order problem for long and that the company did not see its operations
being affected by such threats, reports on television news channels said a
team of ONGC executives had rushed to Assam to take stock of the situation.
ONGC has 15 oil and gas fields in Assam and employs more than 8,500 people
in the state.
This is the second major threat ONGC has faced
in Assam in less than a year.
In May 2005, ONGC was forced to shut all its
oilfields in Assam for four days after activists of the All Assam Students
Union forced the company's employees to move out of the operational areas
at the wells. The protests came after ONGC Chairman Subir Raha had announced
an investment of Rs 500 crore in the state.
The latest threat comes soon after ONGC announced
an investment of Rs 3,300 crore to upgrade its operations in Assam.
"Our equipment in Assam was installed
25 years back and has become obsolete. It has to be renewed now," an
ONGC executive said.
Ultras in Assam have identified companies
as a soft target for extortion. It is an open secret that some companies did
pay extremists, and those which resisted have seen their personnel and assets
being attacked by the ultras.
