ULFA strikes again, 15 killed in Assam

GUWAHATI: ULFA militants struck again in Assam on Monday, killing 15 Hindi-speaking people hours after the centre assured panic-stricken non-Assamese of protection in the wake of a string of attacks by the banned group and ruled out discussions on its demand for sovereignty.

Seven Biharis died and three were injured when ULFA militants called them out of their homes at Borali Bari near Mahmara in Sibsagar district and opened fire at 9 pm.

In Dibrugarh district, six Hindi-speaking persons were gunned down and one injured in an attack by militants at Chokolia near Dimow, police said. Two Hindi-speaking persons were killed and five injured when militants opened fire at a brick kiln at Sepon Chagolia in Moran area of the same district at 8.30 pm, they said.

A teenaged Hindi-speaking boy was injured when ULFA militants shot him at Kochugaon in Kokrajhar district. A ULFA cadre was also killed in a shootout with soldiers at Sepon Bazar in Sibsagar, police said.

The killings came soon after Union Minister of state for home Sriprakash Jaiswal reviewed the situation at a meeting here with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and senior security and army officials. He told reporters that there would be “no discussion on sovereignty” as demanded by the ULFA.

A total of 63 non-Assamese people, mostly brick kiln workers and milkmen from Bihar, have been killed and over 40 injured in attacks by the ULFA since Friday in Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Sibsagar, Dhemaji and Kokrajhar districts.

Additional security forces will be sent to Assam for instilling confidence among Hindi-speaking people, Jaiswal said.