ULFA bombers killed in Assam gunfight

GUWAHATI - Two United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) bombers, accused of blowing up a paramilitary bus and leaving six troopers dead last month, were killed in a gunfight with the security forces in Assam’s Goalpara district Monday, police said.

The shootout began in a thickly forested area near Bhalukdubi village, about 120 km west of Guwahati.

“Based on specific inputs about the presence of two ULFA militants in the area, army and police commandos raided the area and soon there was a massive gunfight between the two sides,” a senior police official said.

The two bombers were killed after a nearly hour long gun battle.

“Both of them were involved in the July 30 bombing of a CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) bus in the same district in which six troopers were killed and 40 injured,” the official said.

A large cache of weapons, including pistols, grenades and explosives, were recovered from the dead militants.

“The duo was planning to stage attacks on the Independence Day, but failed to execute their plans due to stepped up security offensives,” the police official said.