GUWAHATI, Dec 7: Police have arrested five persons, including four Dimasa National Liberation Army (DNLA) militants, in connection with the deaths of a DNLA cadre and two villagers in two separate incidents in central Assam’s Dima Hasao district.
A DNLA cadre, who was undergoing treatment at Haflong Civil Hospital, succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday, sources said.
The deceased DNLA cadre, identified as Apraj Langthasa (20), of Khepre village under Maibong circle in the hill district, was among five injured militants of the outfit who were reportedly thrashed by their “seniors” as they tried to flee from the designated camp at Maibong.
Unconfirmed reports said the cadres were beaten up by their “seniors” about a week back.
A police team had, during a search, recovered the five injured cadres from the designated camp on Monday. Four injured cadres are currently undergoing treatment in Haflong Civil Hospital.
The development followed within hours after two villagers of Langting in the same district were found dead at a designated camp of DNLA, after the duo along with four others were reportedly thrashed at the camp at Maibong late on Sunday evening.
The bodies of the deceased duo were recovered from inside a bathroom of the designated camp. They have been identified as Ramen Hagjer and Amar Goswami of Langting village. The bodies have been sent for postmortem.
The other four injured villagers are currently under treatment at Haflong civil hospital
According to reports, a group of four DNLA militants along with a villager, had entered Langting village, herded the six villagers to the designated camp at Maibong and thrashed them. Two of them were confined inside a bathroom where they succumbed to injuries.
The reason why the DNLA cadres had gone to Langting to abduct and thrash the six persons is yet to be ascertained.
Sources informed that they might have gone to the village looking for persons who stole or were planning to steal some items from the construction site of a highway.
Police however are yet to disclose details of the incident and said that a probe into the incident was underway.
It may be noted that 46 DNLA cadres, including the outfit’s self-styled commander-in-chief Mushrang, had laid down their arms during a surrender ceremony in the Khepre area, 95-km from Dima Hasao district headquarters, Haflong on November 14 last.
The arms laying ceremony was attended by additional DGP (Special Branch) Hiren Nath, senior police officials besides North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) chief executive member, Debolal Garlosa.
The surrendered militants had deposited a huge cache of arms, including AK series rifles and ammunition. Since the surrender, the cadres were lodged at a designated camp.
The DNLA, active in Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong, was formed in 2019 to fight for the liberation of a sovereign and independent “Dimasa nation”.
IANS