Nagaon, April 20: A leader of the Karbi People’s Liberation Tigers and four of his associates were gunned down in an encounter with a joint team of police and security forces early this morning.

Nillip Enghi, along with his associates, was taking shelter at Borpung under Chakihula police station bordering Bokajan subdivision.

Based on intelligence reports, a joint team of police, army and the CRPF began a search late last evening and discovered the KPLT camp deep inside the jungle early this morning.

“The militants opened fire on our team as soon we began heading towards the camp. Our retaliation led to an exchange of fire,” said Karbi Anglong superintendent of police B.B. Chetry.

“After 20 minutes of exchange of fire with the team of militants, we entered the camp where the bodies of the five cadres lay, besides an injured militant. An AK-56 rifle, a 9mm carbine, a 9mm pistol, one Beretta, 50 live ammunitions of self-loading rifle, a television, two MP3 players and three mobile handsets were recovered from the site,” said a Chakihula police source.

“A cadre, seriously injured in the encounter, was rescued from the site. Nillip Enghi, alias Krishna, has already been identified. We suspect the others are his security guards and associates,” Chetry said.Bokajan subdivisional police officer Subhasis Borua rushed to the spot immediately after the incident was reported.

Enghi, the founder general secretary of the KPLT, was one of the main players of the outfit which was formed by 10 breakaway members of the Karbi Longri National Liberation Front, which surrendered en masse in February 2010.

The 25-year-old Enghi, however, was not part of the KLNLF, but joined the outfit later along with other like-minded people who supported the outfit’s demand for a separate Karbi state.

Hence, former KLNLF cadres do not know Enghi.

“We know the founder, Amitabh Hanse, and present chairman Ran Rangpi, as they held responsible positions in the KLNLF before the outfit surrendered. I think Nillip Enghi is a fresh player in the field of militancy,” a KLNLF source said.

The KPLT emerged as a notorious militant outfit in the hill district in the past couple of months.

It was behind the abduction of 13 people, including two forest officials — chief conservator of forests, Abhijit Rabha, and range officer Ranjan Borua — and 11 labourers working in construction projects in two hospitals, in the past six weeks.

The two forest officers and nine of the 11 labourers were later freed, but two labours remain untraced.