22 abducted persons killed, bodies found

GUWAHATI, April 3: In one of the most gruesome incidents of terrorist violence in the State, the bodies of 22 persons kidnapped by Hmar People’s Convention (HPC) in Cachar district were recovered this evening from the dense jungles at Nastul Pahar, five kilometres from Sonai PS in Cachar district. It may be mentioned that 28 persons from the Dimasa community of three villages of Cachar district were kidnapped by the Hmar ultra outfit. Police said that the victims of the massacre were shot from a very close range and were killed the very next day after their abduction. Most of the bodies were getting decomposed. Although the bodies of rest six persons are yet to be recovered, police said that they too might have been killed. The Hmar and Dimasa communities have been at loggerheads for quite sometime now and just about 15 days back DHD militants had attacked a Hmar-dominated area near Udarband. This is most likely to be an act of retaliation by the Hmar ultra outfit.