Three, including soldier, killed in Assam gun battles
By IANSThursday, January 14, 2010
GUWAHATI - Two militants and an army soldier were killed in two separate gun battles Thursday in Assam, security officials said.
A police spokesperson said an army soldier and a surrendered militant of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) were killed in a gunfight at village Pengeri in Tinsukia district, about 550 km east of Assam’s main city of Guwahati.
“A group of surrendered ULFA militants attacked a routine army patrol leading to a gunfight. An army soldier and a surrendered militant were killed in the gunfight,” an army officer said.
Two other surrendered rebels managed to escape.
“We had information that a group of surrendered ULFA militants were actually working on behalf of the outfit and were indulging in an extortion drive in the area,” the officer said.
In another gunfight with security forces Thursday, a militant of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) was killed near village Joldoba in Kokrajhar district, 220 km west of here.
“Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of the army and police launched an operation at Joldoba and killed the militant after a gunfight,” a police official said.
A revolver with two rounds of ammunition, huge quantities of Bangladeshi currency and several documents were recovered from the dead militant.
