s capital, Dispur. Police said they had rushed reinforcements to the area, where the thick forests were being searched for the missing policemen. Officials said they suspected that the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), one of many guerrilla groups in the region fighting for independence, was responsible for the shoot-out. ULFA is one of hundreds of groups fighting Indian rule in five states in the northeast, which has been rocked by violence since the country gained freedom from Britain 50 years ago. The Maoist ideology-inspired ULFA, which accuses New Delhi of ignoring the regional economy and exploiting its mineral and forest resources, has training camps in Bhutan, northern Burma and Bangladesh.