A strict vigil was being maintained along the Assam-Bengal interstate border and global fronts with Bhutan to prevent the NDFB (S) militants from escaping there, the sources said.
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Earlier today, Assam Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal visited Kokrajhar to take stock of the situation arising out of Friday’s terror attack that claimed 13 lives. “My government has given directions to the security forces to take strong action against the militants”.
Senior police officers told The Hindu that the attack was a “desperate attempt” by the NDFB (S) to stay relevant.
On the other hand, the slain NDFB (S) militant was identified on Saturday, who was gunned down by security forces during gun fight. Some eyewitnesses have taken pictures of the slain militant, who, in one picture, is seen wearing a rain coat with an AK-56 rifle slung on one shoulder and a backpack.
The militants who came in an autorickshaw threw a powerful grenade in the market and destroyed many shops and killed many people.
While narrating the incident, survivor Santosh Narzary, a trader at the market, told a local news channel, “I saw a gunman dressed in a black raincoat-like gown and another two were sitting in an autorickshaw. He wasn’t firing indiscriminately but targeting people and taking one shot at a time”.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday reviewed the situation in Kokrajhar district and urged the Centre to deploy 75 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), which were withdrawn from the state after the April assembly elections.
CM of Assam Sonowal said that the government had made a decision to give an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the family of each person killed. He announced an ex-gratia of ‘2 lakh to those critically wounded and Rs 20,000 for those having minor injuries.
He said, “Vigil should be stepped up to foil the sinister designs of anti-national forces”, Sonowal said, and appealed to the people to remain alert. He rushed back to Guwahati later.
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Health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that preliminary investigations point towards the involvement of Songbijit faction of NDFB militants in the attack.
