From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: A Guwahati-based tea planter and the director of a 4-star hotel was shot dead and injured his security guard in Assam by suspected militants belonging to anti-talks faction of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in an area under Itakhola Police outpost in Sonitpur district, Nagada, bordering Arunachal Pradesh.
Nagada is located about 20 km north of Sootea subdivision in the district.
The incident occurred at around 12-30 P.M on Tuesday about 70 kilometers away from the district headquarter Tezpur.
Police said the tea planter Adilur Rahman (55) who owns Mahalaxmi Tea Estate in Sonitpur district was returning from inspection of a division of the tea estate called Tejalpani.
“While Rahman died on the spot, one of his security personnel sustained bullet injuries,” said Superintendent of Police Apurba Jiban Baruah.
The militants fired several rounds at the vehicle, Baruah said. A group of armed militants way laid his vehicle and shot him dead despite a brave fight put up by his PSO.
The militants chased him and gunned him down in a nearby village after he ran out of his Toyota vehicle to escape the wrath of militants even as his PSO was putting up resistance.
Rahman was declared brought dead by doctors at a government hospital at Biswanath Chariali. He is also a director of a 4-start category hotel in Guwahati.
One of his securitymen, who is a member of the Assam Tea Protection Force (ATPF), received severe bullet injuries and was being shifted to Guwahati Medical College and Hospital, he said.
The injured was being treated at Army base hospital in Tezpur.
Police suspected it to be the handiwork of the anti-talk faction of the NDFB that is active in the area bordering Arunachal Pradesh in Sonitpur district.
A combing operation has been launched to track down the culprits.
The tea planter who hails from Guwahati had gone to his Mahalaxmi tea estate on Sunday and was returning after inspecting the construction work of a new factory at the Tejalpati division.
It was known if the militants had served any extortion notice to the management of Mahalaxmi Tea Estate. (With inputs from IANS)