A joint team of Army and Assam police has killed a top commander of anti-talk faction of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) at a remote location in northern Assam’s Sonitpur district on Tuesday morning.
The slain militant, identified as Khamkhang was the commander of the outfit’s Sonitpur district and his name was being considered for appointment as the outfit’s Commander-in Chief in place of Bidai to rejuvenate the group and recover the flagging morale of the cadres.
“We had specific intelligence that Khamkhang was moving in the area and launched an operation. However, the cadre challenged the security forces and lobbed a grenade and opened fire forcing the forces to retaliate and in th4e ensuing gun battle, the senior cadre was killed,” said a Defence spokesman based in Guwahati.
Security forces said that the slain militant was a key figure involved in planning and execution of the brutal massacre of Adivasi villagers in December last year in Assam. Besides, he was involved in extending the terror net of the outfit in the area by kidnapping, carrying out extortion and killings innocent civilians.
A pistol and some live ammunition were recovered from his possession.