GUWAHATI:
The Special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), on March 21, sentenced a National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) militant Rabi Basumatary alias Rongjahan alias Robi to life imprisonment, along with rigorous imprisonment for 10 years in various sections of IPC and UA(P) Act in an indiscriminate firing case in 2014.
On May 1, 2014, Rabi along with six other militants entered Balapara village under Gossaingaon police station in Kokrajhar district where they opened indiscriminate fire on the villagers on instructions from the NDFB top leaders headed by G Bidai and Songbijit.
The Special NIA Court has subsequently registered a case No 5/2-15 as a special case.
Rabi who was convicted by the NIA court on march 13, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in two cases and rigorous imprisonment in two others (sections 3022, 307 and 34 of the IPC and section 16 (1)(a) and UA(P) Act, 1967), he has also been fined in all the cases and will have to undergo additional simple imprisonment in case of failure to pay the fine.
It may be mentioned that seven villagers were killed and two others grievously injured in the case in which Rabi was arrested in September 2016 and chargesheeted by the NIA in March 2017 through the first supplementary chargesheet.
The original chargesheet was filed in Gossaingaon (Balapara), Assam against accused Pradip Brahmaalias Pwier in August 2015. A second supplementary chargesheet was filed in October 2019 against the accused Upen Basumatary alias Usaonadao, while the third supplementary chargesheet was filed in January 2021 against five absconding accused persons.
The Special NIA Court convicted and sentenced Pradip Brahma and Pwler to life imprisonment in July 2016. The trial against Upen is ongoing and the search for the absconding accused is going on.
Investigation into the case has revealed that Rabi Basumatary alias Rongjabaja was a member of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB), an armed separatist group fighting to obtain a sovereign Boroland for the Boro people.