Imphal, June 10 :     Award-winning Sahitya Akademi playwright Arambam Somorendra, who was also the founder general secretary of the outlawed United National Liberation Front (UNLF), was assassinated this morning at Khurai Salanthong . An unidentified gunman shot dead the sexagenarian playwright while he was attending a seminar on 'Women's Shumang Leela in Manipur.' He is survived by his wife and four sons. The gunman walked into the auditorium and fired at the 65-year-old former underground activist from point blank range. The assailant fled with an accomplice waiting outside on a scooter. Somorendra, who was rushed to the J. N. Hospital at Porompat, was declared 'brought dead.' He was hit by two bullets from a Chinese-made M-20 pistol - one each on his face and shoulder, a police source said. A post-graduate in military science from Pune University, Somorendra took an active role in forming the UNLF in 1964 and later became its chairman. He came overground in 1974 following an announcement of 'general amnesty' by a Manipur People's Party government headed by R. K. Dorendra Singh. Since then, he was living in his ancestral home at Sagolband Meino Leirak here.