Assam police apprehend nine ULB cadres from BTR districts
The Assam Police arrested nine cadres of a newly formed insurgent outfit, the United Liberation of Bodoland (ULB), from the Bodoland Territorial Region districts on Thursday.
Assam Special Director General of Police G.P. Singh, in a tweet, said that a large number of documents including demand notes, a list of cadres, and grenades were recovered in searches.
Indicative of rising activity by the Bodo militants, in another operation, Baksa Police also arrested one ULB cadre and a linkman, and recovered one live grenade, demand notes of the organisation, and mobile handsets from their possession on September 22.
Earlier on September 18, security forces had gunned down two suspected militants accused of allegedly belonging to the ULB. According to a police official, the suspected militants, identified as Jangshar Mushahary and Janak Kumar Brahma from Kokrajhar, were killed in a police encounter in the early hours of Saturday after they allegedly opened fire at the security forces.
The killing at the Ultapani area of Assam's Kokrajhar district, however, led to widespread protests by locals, as well as opposition parties, who claimed the slain men were not, in fact, militants of the organisation.
Following this incident, the Assam Government on September 21 directed Lower Assam Division Commissioner, Jayant Narlikar, to inquire into the events that led to the death of those two suspected ULB cadres in the police encounter.
In a notification issued by the state home and political department, secretary Debaprasad Misra said, "He will ascertain the facts and circumstances leading to the deaths... and submit an enquiry report within fifteen days".
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