New Delhi, Nov. 15: Ulfa commander-in-chief Paresh Barua and National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) chairman Ranjan Daimary had met thrice in Bangladesh before the Assam blasts, home ministry sources said here today.

The last meeting between the two militant leaders was held at Cox’s Bazar on September 17 in the presence of a foreign intelligence operative, the sources added, but did not disclose the date and place of the first two meetings.

The Assam government had named the NDFB and Ulfa as perpetrators of the October 30 serial blasts on November 11, two days after intelligence sources hinted at the outfits’ involvement in the attacks.

Corroborating the state government’s stand, the home ministry sources said the serial blasts in Assam were jointly planned and executed by the two outfits.

“The case is cracked and it is clear that both the outfits were involved together. But we are trying to ascertain why the scale of violence (was so high),” a senior home ministry official said.

Though both the outfits denied involvement in the blasts — Ulfa even before it was accused and the NDFB after reports of its involvement — the Centre extended its ban on the two groups on Wednesday.

The NDFB has also denied any alliance with Ulfa.

Its publicity secretary S. Sanjarang said Ulfa had snapped ties with the Bodo group after the latter entered into a ceasefire with the Centre in June 2005.

He said Daimary had initiated the ceasefire and it was on his direction that the outfit’s memorandum to Delhi was amended to the latter’s satisfaction. The home ministry had objected to the words “sovereignty” and “independence” and these were removed before the suspension of operations agreement was extended till December 31.

There is, however, some rationale in the report of the Cox’s Bazar meeting as camaraderie between the NDFB and Ulfa had developed in Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Sanjarang hoped the ban would be revoked since “we are not involved in any unlawful activity and are in a ceasefire (agreement with the Centre)”.

Investigators are also trying to unravel whether jihadi outfits were approached solely for logistic support or were the prime motivators, the home ministry official said.

A home ministry team visiting Assam is likely to discuss measures to prevent illegal Bangladeshi migration into Assam from the porous international border.