The United Liberation Front of Assam (Independent) on Thursday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party's chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal of using Ulfa cadres to carry out political murders. In an emailed statement, the Paresh Barua-led party said Sonowal was present when cadres attacked and killed Dibrugarh University student leader Saurav Bora on May 27, 1986.

According to The Telegraph, the outfit has also accused BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma of using its members to kill Congress leader Manabendra Sarma, journalist Kamala Kalita and social activist Sanjay Ghose to gain political mileage. Ulfa's statement claimed that they had also helped Sonowal become All Assam Students Union president. It also said former chief minister and Asom Gana Parishad leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta was the "vice-president" of the group that carried out "secret killings" in the late 1990s in which family members and sympathisers of Ulfa were killed by unidentified gunmen.

Denying the allegations, Sonowal said he was given a clean chit by both the Gauhati High Court and CBI in the Bora murder case. In June 2012, the court had discharged Sonowal in the murder case due to lack of material evidence. Pradip Gogoi, a leader of the pro-talks faction of Ulfa, said Ulfa's statement appeared to be "politically motivated" because of its timing. The Assam Assembly elections will be held in two phases, on April 4 and 11. The BJP and AGP have forged an alliance for the state polls despite strong protests from members of both parties.