The Ulfa (Independent) on Saturday released an ONGC engineer they had kidnapped 31 days ago and also gave him Rs 2,000 in cash, responding to an appeal from Assam’s new chief minister and raising hopes for the peace process to begin.

Junior engineer Ritul Saikia and two of his colleagues had been kidnapped by Ulfa (I) cadres on the night of April 21 from the ONGC rig site at Lakwa in Upper Assam’s Sivasagar district. His colleagues M.M. Gogoi and Alokesh Saikia had been rescued in a joint operation involving the army, the Assam Rifles, Nagaland police and village guards from near the India-Myanmar border in Mon district of Nagaland on April 24.

Ritul Saikia, 38, a resident of Borholla in Golaghat district, was released at Longwa village in Mon district around 7am on Saturday.

Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who took charge on May 10, had on Thursday appealed to Ulfa (I) head Paresh Barua to release Saikia and said “repeated attacks” on the oil sector would break the economic backbone of Assam.

Saikia was handed over to a joint team of the Assam Rifles and Assam and Nagaland police. He was first brought to Sonari in Assam around 3pm where he interacted with the media around 4.30pm in the presence of security personnel. He was then escorted home with his family members to Borholla, about 100km from Sonari.

Saikia said he was happy to be back with his family but extremely tired, having had to walk for three days. He said Ulfa (I) cadres had handed him Rs 2,000 at the time of his release.

Sources tracking the Ulfa (I), formed in 1979 to secure an independent Assam, said things were “moving very fast for the better” since Sarma’s appeal. Ulfa (I) chief Baruah has also announced a three-month unilateral ceasefire in view of the alarming Covid-19 situation.

Soon after Sarma’s appeal, Baruah had assured that Saikia would soon be released and praised the new chief minister for the way he was trying to engage with the Ulfa (I) for lasting peace.

Sarma tweeted on Saturday: “Heartily welcome release of Ritul Saikia, ONGC employee abducted by Ulfa, early today! Grateful to Hon’ble UHM @AmitShah for constant guidance. Hope an era of peace & development is firmly established in state with cooperation of one and all….”

Assam director-general of police B.J. Mahanta thanked the state government and the chief minister. “We (the police) had no role except getting him safely home,” Mahanta said.

Sarma had met Saikia’s family twice in the past 10 days, assuring to secure his release.

Governor Jagdish Mukhi said in the Assembly on Saturday: “I urge the Ulfa (I) leadership to set in motion the process to device the ground rules during the period of ceasefire. I am sure that during this important ceasefire period of three months, if agreed ground rules are adhered to and the situation remains violence-free, it will create a conducive environment for a structured discussion….”