Bangladesh intelligence sources confirmed to the news portal that Paresh has escaped unhurt in the attack.

According to the news portal, Indian security forces used trained surrendered-Ulfa (Sulfa) cadres and members of the Dhaka-based mafia group, Seven Stars, to eliminate the ULFA's military wing chief.

The recent attack at 149, Segun Bagicha, in Dhaka on the premises of MAK Properties, took place at 7 pm on August 26, killing three of Paresh’s associates.

A senior official of Bangladesh’s caretaker administration was reported to have told the news portal that "Paresh managed to run away from the spot because of heavy police presence in the area."

"But we managed to kill two Ulfa men of Paresh’s inner circle, Ashanta Bag Phukan and Mridul Hazarika alias Salim. We are yet to identify the third man whose body was lying in the blood pool after the encounter on Sunday evening," an Indian intelligence official confirmed, said the news portal.

"The gunmen fired from Chinese carbines and used night visions to pinpoint the group," the senior Bangladesh Home Ministry official told the news portal.

The gunmen fired inside the office of Challenger Transport, which is inside the premises of MAK Properties. It is also learnt that Paresh Barua has 40 per cent stake in the transport company.

According to the senior Bangladesh Home Ministry official Paresh could escape because during the course of the firing, the attackers got involved in a gun-battle with a mobile police patrol in Segun Bagicha. "The attackers hurled grenades (at the police) and escaped. The police fired several rounds at the fleeing raiders, but none was injured," he said, adding that five policemen were injured by the grenade blasts.

"We have found out a pattern in Paresh’s visit to the office of Challenger Transport. He used to visit the office daily to collect his dues. But due to the intervention of the local police, we missed him this time also," a top Intelligence official, who is the brain-child behind all the attempts on the rebel leader, told the news portal.

Earlier, on July 6, Paresh was lucky when an explosion ripped apart the basement of his two-storeyed safehouse beside the Egyptian Embassy in the posh Gulshan area in Dhaka. Four Ulfa militants and one Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) operative was killed in the attack.

The attack involved some senior members of the Dhaka-based mafia syndicate Seven Stars who later took shelter in an Indian intelligence safehouse in Kolkata’s Salt Lake area.
(August 30 : 9 PM)