GUWAHATI: A police officer was grievously injured in a fierce encounter between a combined team of the police and paramilitary forces and the Paresh Baruah faction of the insurgent group United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) on Friday.
Unconfirmed reports said Bhaskar Kalita, the officer-in-charge of Bordumsa police station in eastern Assam’s Tinsukia district, succumbed to his injuries later.
The encounter took place at a remote village in Bordumsa bordering Arunachal Pradesh.
“A joint team of the police and the CRPF had launched an operation in the area based on specific intelligence inputs about the presence of a group of ULFA rebels. OC of Bordumsa police station Bhaskar Kalita was reportedly injured in the incident and shifted to the hospital,” Assam’s Director General of Police, Kuladhar Saikia, told The New Indian Express.
Sources said two others – an ULFA militant and a local – were also killed in the gunfight which started at around 4 pm. However, the police did not confirm it.
The operation was launched following reports that a group of ULFA insurgents was taking shelter at a house. The joint team of the police and CRPF, which was being led by Kalita, came under fire as soon as it reached the site.
The militants not only fired a barrage of shots, they also triggered grenade blasts. When reports last came in at 10 pm, an intense firefight was on. Stricken by panic, the locals fled the village for safety.
The police did not rule out the presence of Manipuri rebels in the ULFA team. There have been instances in the past when the ULFA had carried out attacks in coordination with Manipuri insurgents.