Guwahati: Two persons were killed and two others seriously injured in two separate incidents of attacks by militants in Assam on Wednesday.
One person was killed and two others injured when suspected militants of United Liberation Front of Assam (Independent) fired on a tea garden van at Pengeri in Tinsukia district of eastern Assam when the van along with a few Assam Industrial Security Force (AISF) personnel was travelling from Pengeri to Doom Dooma in Tinsukia district of eastern Assam to collect money for payment of wages to tea estate workers.
Police informed that ULFA (I) militants waiting in ambush fired upon the van killing one Abhijit Paul (65) on the spot.
The driver of the vehicle Williamson Bage and one AISF personnel Nitin Chandra Singh suffered serious bullet injuries in the attack and later rushed to Assam Medical College Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh.
Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, condemning the incident, ordered the director general of police to inquire into the incident and arrest culprits. He also announced ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to next to kin of the deceased and directed free of cost treatment of the injured.
Sonowal directed senior cabinet minister Chandra Mohan Patowary and two BJP MLAs from the area to rush to the area to take stock of the situation and visit the families of deceased and injured persons.
Meanwhile, in another incident a businessman, HR Borbhuyan, was shot dead near Assam-Mizoram boundary at Phakuwanala in Hailakandi district of South Assam on Wednesday by suspected militants belonging to United Democratic Liberation Army (UDLA).
Police informed that the slain businessman had ignored militants’ demand for money.
