At least seven persons were killed and nine others were injured in less than 24 hours after National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) anti-talk faction militants carried out a series of attacks on civilians in Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts (BTAD) since Friday.
While one person was shot dead by the anti-talks NDFB militants at Ambagan area under Harisinga police station in Udalguri district on Saturday evening, the cadres of the same militant outfit fired indiscriminately at a village in Chirang district on Saturday late evening killing one person and injuring five others. The second incident on Saturday took place at Bagidara village under Panbari police station in Chirang district, police said.
On Friday night the same militant outfit killed five passengers and injured four others of night service buses at Aathiabari Tiniali located on the National Highway 31 under Serfanguri police station in Kokrajhar district.
Police said that all the victims of Friday’s incident hail from Bihar and West Bengal. “The injured in Friday’s incident had been shifted to the lower Assam hospital at Bongaigaon and the conditions of three of them were stated to be serious,” police said.
“Today the armed militants of the NDFB faction shot dead one Visham Sharma at Ambagan area in Udalguri. later, NDFB militants opened firing at Bagidara village in Chirang and killing one Iman Ali (50) instantly and injuring five others,” state’s Home Commissioner GD Tripathi told The Pioneer.
“Yesterday, the militants had waylaid at Aathiabari Tiniali and stopped four night service buses, which were coming from some north Bengal towns to Assam and Meghalaya. The militants then forced some of the passengers out of the buses and indiscriminately fired on them,” he said.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi expressed his concern over the incidents and asked the State Director General of Police, Khagen Sarma to launch massive operations against the militants involved in the incident. “We are taking all precautionary measures to maintain law and order in the BTAD. Additional forces have already been rushed to the districts to contain the situation,” he said adding that a massive operation had been launched in the BTAD areas against the NDFB anti-talk faction since Friday.
Tripathi also termed the incident as a retaliatory move by the NDFB militant faction. “The security forces have killed a cadre of the NDFB faction yesterday at Moinaguri in the district. The serial attacks since yesterday seems to be retaliation by the outfit,” he said. “Autopsy has been carried out and the bodies would be handed over to the victims’ families soon after their arrival,” he said.