Guwahati:
Two surrendered National Liberation Front of Bodoland (NLFB) militants, allegedly involved in dacoity, were killed and an additional superintendent of police was injured in a gunfight in Assam’s Chirang district on the intervening night of April 5, the police said. The deceased have been identified as Mohanta Narzary and Sankar Borgoyari.
In another incident, dacoits shot dead a man, Raja Boro, in the same district which falls under Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).
Acting on a tip-off about the presence of former NLFB militants suspected to have been involved in dacoity incidents in three villages along the India-Bhutan border on March 29, an operation was launched in Runikhata area on Monday night, a police officer said.
The suspected dacoits, who were hiding inside a house, opened fire on the police team on spotting them in the wee hours of Tuesday. In retaliatory firing, two of them – Narzary, a prime accused in a dacoity case, and Borgoyari – were killed while Additional Superintendent of Police (Headquarters) Prakash Medhi and his bodyguard sustained bullet injuries.
Around two-three more people were inside the house and they managed to escape and search operations have been launched to nab them. Two pistols were seized from the encounter site, the police said. The injured were shifted to Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) for treatment.
“Valiant action by Additional SP Prakash Medhi. Despite receiving bullet injury, he and his team neutralised two criminals after heavy exchange of fire in Runikhata, Chirang early this morning.@Assam Police is proud of you (sic),” wrote Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) G P Singh on a popular micro-blogging website.
Around the same time, a group of suspected dacoits barged into a house in Kamarpara in Dhaligaon police station area, and when the residents raised an alarm, they shot dead Bodo, before fleeing the spot.
According to the police, Boro was shot in his brother-in-law Manoranjan Boro’s house. He had gone to Manoranjan’s house after getting a distress call from his elder sister informing him that two unidentified persons have entered their house and are demanding money from her husband.
The incident prompted Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) chief Pramod Boro to visit the family and take stock of the situation. Pramod said that the culprits involved in the killing will be dealt with an iron hand. State handloom minister UG Brahma and local MLA Jayanta Basumatary also visited the household.
“BTR entered into an era of peace after the signing of the Bodo Peace Accord on January 27, 2020. However, the situation turned worse on March 29 after the incident at Malibhita in the Chirang district. There is a conspiracy of some people to disrupt the peace process in the region.” Brahma said on the sidelines of his visit.
Stating that there is a delay in providing the relief packages to the surrendered cadres, Brahma urged the cadres not to be frustrated with it and wait patiently. He also asked them to take part in the peace process and development of the region.
“Once sanctioned, the rehabilitation package will cover all the cadres of the four factions of NDFB and NLFB,” Brahma said.