Agencies / Guwahati
At least five people were killed by suspected United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) militants in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district on Thursday evening.
According to reports militants fired indiscriminately at a group of people belonging to the Bengali community while they were playing a game near the Dhola-Sadiya bridge around 7:45 pm.
The victims have been identified as Shyamlal Biswas, Ananta Biswas, Abhinash Biswas, Subal Biswas and Dhananjay Namsudra.
According to SP Tinsukia, the armed militants opened fire at the people playing ludo game at the dhaba killing five persons on the spot. Tinsukia Police team lead by Additional SP Prakash Sonowal was coordinating with Dhola police.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the Trinamool Congress will take out rallies in different parts of the state to protest the killings.
In protest against the brutal killings in Assam @AITCofficial will organise protest rallies tomorrow ( Fri Nov 2) in different parts of north and south Bengal including Siliguri and Kolkata
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 1, 2018
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also condemned the attack . “Deeply anguished by civilian casualties in an attack in Upper Assam region. It is a reprehensible act of mindless violence. Spoke to Assam CM Shri @sarbanandsonwal regarding the incident and asked him to take strict possible action against the perpetrators of this heinous crime,” he said.
Deeply anguished by civilian casualties in an attack in Upper Assam region. It is a reprehensible act of mindless violence. Spoke to Assam CM Shri @sarbanandsonwal regarding the incident and asked him to take strict possible action against the perpetrators of this heinous crime.
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) November 1, 2018
Immediately after the incident, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal asked State Ministers Keshav Mahanta and Topon Kumar Gogoi to rush to the incident site and take stock of the situation. Assam Director General of Police Kula Saikia and Additional Director General of Police Mukesh Agarwalla were also sent to the spot, an official statement read.
ULFA in Assam often target migrants from other states. Four people were injured in a low-intensity blast at Guwahati’s Sukleswar Ghat area on October 13. ULFA-I later claimed responsibility for the incident, terming it as a warning for Hindu Bengali groups working “against the interests of Assam”.