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Assam : ULFA’s Karbi ally kills four cops in ambush |
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Militants of a tribal group mentored by ULFA and opposed to the peace initiative in Karbi Anglong killed four policemen in an ambush on June 3.
The victims were on their way to Koilapahar, 35 km from the district headquarters, when the militants sprayed bullets on them from behind the thick foliage along the road. Karbi Anglong superintendent of police Anurag Tankha said between eight and 10 militants of the Karbi Longri NC Hills Liberation Front ambushed the police team at Dillai.
The policemen retaliated but could not match the militants. Four of them lay dead after a 12-minute exchange of fire. Two more were wounded and hobbled all the way to a police outpost to report the incident.
Although the police confirmed the Karbi Longri group’s involvement, deputy commissioner A. Angamathu said he suspected a Kuki outfit of being behind the incident. “The Kuki Revolutionary Army is very active in the area and might have been behind the ambush. All possibilities are being considered,” he said.
It was the second ambush by the Karbi Longri group, a break¬away faction of the United People’s Democratic Solidarity, in the past five months. Five policemen and two civilians died in an ambush by the outfit near Parakhowa on January 6. The team was returning from election duty at Namati in a truck when they came under attack.
The Karbi Longri leadership has consistently rejected offers of talks and its alliance with ULFA has added to the security establishment’s worries. Intelligence agencies say ULFA has been helping the Karbi Longri faction as part of its strategy of operating jointly with armed groups that dominate a particular area. There have been reports of ULFA entering into a similar alliance with the National Democratic Front of Bodoland to create an operational base in the Bodo heartland.
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