GUWAHATI, Jan 16 — After a brief lull, the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) militants stRuck again in Bongaigaon district, killing 13 persons, and seriously injuring five others. Officials sources said here that the incident occurred around 10 pm yesterday when a group of about 20 to 25 heavily armed NDFB militants attacked number III Dailongjhar village in Bishnupur area under Bongaigaon police station at a time when the people of the Bengali-dominated village were performing some puja. Some gambling dens were also set up as part of the celebrations. Sources said that the militants first took two boys away from the spot and shot them dead. Immediately thereafter, the militants opened indiscriminate fire killing eight others on the spot. Three more persons died on way to hospital.
Twelve of those killed in the incident have been identified as Swapan Mazudar, Sunil Mandal, Phani Barman, Banga Bihari Debnath, Makhan Mandal, Sachindra Mandal, Sib Narayan Chowhan, Lal Mohan Mandal, Bijoy Barman, Pran Gobinda Debnath, Jiban Das and Indra Mohan Das. As the incident took place in an interior place north of the national highway, about 40 km away from Bongaigaon town, the police and the security forces came to know about it much later. Official sources said that senior police officers including the Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Sri M Mohanraj have rushed to the spot to supervise combing operations in the area to nab the militants involved in the attack. Two additional columns of army personnel have also been rushed to the area for launching an offensive against the militants.
It is suspected that the attack was aimed at derailing the ongoing peace talks between the Government and the Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT) as such attacks would give more teeth to the organisations opposing the creation of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) under the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India. It is also suspected that as the incident took place near the international boundary, the militants may try to sneak into their sate sanctuaries in Bhutan to avoid arrest by the security forces.