Kokrajhar/Guwahati, Feb. 8: An NDFB (Songbijit) "platoon commander", wanted for the Adivasi massacre of 2014, was today gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Chirang district of lower Assam.
The name of Uday Narzary alias N. Khilikhang, 30, figured on the list of NDFB (S) rebels wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with the massacre of Adivasi villagers at Saralpara in Kokrajhar district on December 23, 2014, Lt Col Suneet Newton, public relations officer (defence), said. Fourteen people were killed in the village when NDFB (S) militants had opened indiscriminate fire.
A joint team of the army and Assam police launched the operation early this morning based on specific information about the presence of NDFB (S) militants in a forest under Runikhata police station, Col Newton said.
When the team of security forces reached near Edenbari village, 20km from Kajalgaon, the district headquarters of Chirang, around 3.30am, the militants opened fire. The forces retaliated, injuring Narzary, who sustained multiple bullet wounds. He was rushed to the district hospital but was declared dead on arrival by the doctors.
An AK-56 rifle with a magazine and Rs 31,000 were found on him.
Chirang superintendent of police Ranjan Bhuyan said Narzary, who hails from Bengtol in Chirang district, was also involved in extortions and abductions. "He had joined NDFB (S) in 2010 and was a member of the outfit's 35th batch. He had undergone training in use of arms and explosives in Myanmar," the police officer added.
Narzary's killing is being seen as a major success for the security forces, who have been carrying out relentless operations against the NDFB (S) since the outfit killed more than 65 Adivasi villagers in Kokrajhar and Sonitpur districts in December 2014. A source said 25 cadres of the outfit have been killed and about 600 of its members and linkmen arrested in the operation. However, about 25 to 30 militants, including top leaders G. Bidai and K. Batha, are still at large.
A source said the operation has broken the backbone of the militant group and some of its leaders have sent feelers to the government for talks. "The Centre has made it clear that if they desire they can surrender before the security forces and face the law but there won't be any ceasefire agreement with them," he added. Union home minister Rajnath Singh had taken a tough stand after the massacre and had ruled out any talks with "perpetrators of heinous crimes".
After visiting the violence-hit areas in Sonitpur and Kokrajhar, he had stated that the Centre had adopted a zero-tolerance policy against all acts of terror. He had asked security forces to launch a full-scale operation against the outfit. "The massacre by the NDFB (S) should not be underestimated as an ordinary incident of militancy. It is an act of terror. How can you hold talks with militants who can thrust the barrel of a gun into a five-month-old baby's mouth?" the home minister had said.