GUWAHATI, Feb 24— Four hardcore militants belonging to the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) were killed in a two-hour-long gun-battle with the Army and police near the famous Stilwell Road inside the Tinkopani Reserve Forest under Lekhapani police station of Tinsukia district today. One Armyman also received bullet injuries but he is reported to be out of danger. The Superintendent of Police of Tinsukia district, Sri A J Baruah, giving details of the incident, said that the movement of the security forces along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border areas was increased following reports that the militants belonging to the NSCN (K) had issued threats to an office of the Oil India Limited located at the Kharsang area of the neighbouring State. Today at around 10.30 am, a patrol party of the 9 Grenadiers of the Army came face to face with a five-member group of the ULFA on the Stilwell Road in the reserve forest. He said that the militants immediately opened fire and the Army personnel also retaliated. A police party headed by the sub-divisional police officer also rushed to the spot and after more than two hours of heavy exchange of fire, four ULFA men were killed, while another managed to escape.
The militants killed in the incident have been identified as Lt Nilotpal Sangmai of Tingkhong area of Dibrugarh district, Sgt Major Tridib Sarma of Nalbari, corporal Agyanta Phukan alias Bubul of Kakopathar area of Tinsukia and Jayanta Baruah of Tingkhong. The security forces also recovered a large number of arms and ammunition including one UMG with a drum magazine, two AK-56 rifles with 10 magazines and 495 rounds of ammunition and one Chinese bottle grenade from the militants. One of the militants admitted before the police that they were coming down from the First battalion headquarters of the NSCN(K) in Myanmar just minutes before succumbing to his injuries.
Sri Baruah revealed that according to information available with the police and security forces, the militants have changed their routes to enter Assam and today’s incident proved the tip-off to be true. The SP said that Tridib Sarma of Nalbari was wanted by the forces in connection with a number of cases. He was involved in the attack on an Army Major on December 25, 1999 in Kalopathar area. He was also involved in the killing of seven Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in an IED blast in Duliajan on October 3, 1999. Agyanta was involved in the attack on Philobari police outpost under Doom Dooma police station in December 1999, while he was also involved in the IED blast in Hahkati village in 1997. Nilotpal was originally from the political wing of the outfit, but he received training on handling of weapons in Myanmar in 1998. He was actively involved in collection of funds for the outfit in the upper Assam districts, the SP said.