After ULFA (I) on February 18 made it clear that the abducted Quippo employees will be "executed" next week, netizens across the state came together and appealed to Paresh Baruah, the commander-in-chief of the banned outfit, to release the employees immediately.

It is worth mentioning here that radio operator Ram Kumar and drilling superintendent Pranab Kumar Gogoi were abducted by ULFA (I) from the Kumchaikha hydrocarbon drilling site in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh on December 21, 2020.

In a statement to the media on February 18, the United Liberation Front of Asom- Independent (ULFA (I)) informed that the two rounds of talks with the Quippo authorities have failed and hence it would go ahead with its earlier decision to execute the two abducted employees- Pranab Kumar Gogoi and Ram Kumar.

"The ULFA (I) must release the two abducted Quippo employees Ram Kumar and Pranab Kumar Gogoi immediately. They are innocent," wrote a Guwahati-based social scientist on his Facebook wall after the news channels aired the outfit's statement.

In another post, he wrote, "ULFA has killed a number of innocent persons in the name of revolution. But what has been the outcome- ZERO. This mindlessness should stop. Please release the duo."

Replying to the post a user wrote, "I hope the outfit reads our appeals. I was in Dhemaji a couple of months back and when I was shown the site of the August 15, 2004 bomb blast in which schoolchildren died, shivers ran down my veins. Enough of bloodshed has been done so far. Please release the duo."

"What would ULFA gain by killing its own men? This is not rebellion? This can't be rebellion," wrote another user.

"Please, spare the two souls. By killing them you will not be having any impact on the government, but two families will be destroyed forever. Think of the two families," she further added.

"The ULFA (I) supporters are silent today as no one from their family has been abducted. It's a shame that they are still supporting such kind of brutality in the name of revolution," wrote another user.

"Without humanity, there cannot be any revolution. Release the captives," wrote another user.

It may be mentioned here that family members of the two abducted persons recently met Paresh Baruah's brother Bimal Baruah and pleaded before him for the release of the two men.

Meanwhile, in its press release on Friday 18, the ULFA (I) has also asked the other Quippo employees operating in Southeast Asia, including Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, to leave their respective jobs immediately and start looking for other jobs.

“We appeal to all employees associated with Quippo to refrain from joining work with the company from tomorrow and pressurise Quippo, Oil India Ltd, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh governments to accommodate them in other jobs,” the statement said.