According to the police, the heavily-armed militants came to the crowded weekly Balajan Tiniali market, about 12 kilometres from here, in a van at around noon and fired indiscriminately killing 12 persons on the spot and injuring more than 20 others.
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Additional DGP L R Bishnoi said that three to four militants carried out the Friday’s attack. The security forces eliminated one of the militants in an encounter soon after the incident.
One of the attackers, who were believed to be about five in number, was killed in retaliatory action by security forces.
“Saddened by the attack in Kokrajhar (district)”. We strongly condemn it.
The accused have been identified as Sri Amiraj Basumatary.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday launched jointly massive operation with the Assam police special branch to nab the NDFB (S) militants, who were involved in the Aug 5 carnage in Kokrajhar district, officials said.
He also said that security forces had recovered an AK-47 rifle from the terrorist who was killed in a gun battle with the security forces.
He said that the process of identifying the militants involved in the killings on Friday is on.
Later the chief minister proceeded to hold a high-level meeting with police, army and paramilitary officials to assess the situation. “We will not tolerate any threat from any group”.
The dead included a militant from a faction of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), which has waged a decades-long campaign for an independent homeland for the indigenous Bodo people.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won power in Assam for the first time in May after campaigning on a promise to disenfranchise Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants while also pledging to increase spending in the state.
The Army, which claims to have eliminated many hard-core NDFB (S) militants, was carrying out counter-insurgency operations in the area against NDFB (S) for last two years.
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In a version that nearly challenged the police claim, Mohilary’s party colleague and state forest minister Pramila Rani Brahma said, “I doubt NDFB-S would carry out such an attack in broad daylight”.
