M A I N   N E W S

Ultras kill 19 in Assam, Tripura

GUWAHATI, April 20 (PTI, UNI) — In stepped-up violence, militants gunned down 19 persons in three separate attacks in Assam and neighbouring Tripura yesterday, police officials said today.

In a case of ethnic cleansing, 11 Nepalese settlers, eight of them of a family, were shot dead by Karbi National Volunteer Force (KNVF) militants in Assam’s hill district of Karbi Anglong while in neighbouring Tripura eight non-tribesmen, including five members of a family, were massacred by the insurgents of the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT).

A group of 10 KNVF ultras, armed with sophisticated weapons swooped on East Umglaiphar village in Assam around noon yesterday and killed three persons belonging to the Nepalese community, Karbi Anglon’s Additional Deputy Commission L.R. Jothe told PTI over telephone.

Later in the night, militants went to West Umglaiphar village and ordered male members of a family belonging to the same community to come out of the house. They were lined up and shot dead in cold blood, he said. Among the victims were two minors.

The militants also set ablaze 25 houses, Mr Jothe said.

In Tripura, some 15 NLFT militants set afire huts of non-tribesmen in Laxmipur village and then gunned down eight people who tried to escape the flames.

While seven persons died on the spot, one of the two injured succumbed on way to the hospital, the police said in Agartala.

The security forces have launched combing operations in both Assam and Tripura to nab the militants.

Meanwhile, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar today airdashed to New Delhi to seek more central paramilitary force to contain the rising militancy in the state.

Before leaving for New Delhi, Mr Sarkar talked to union Home Minister L.K. Advani over phone and apprised him about the situation. A meeting will be held between the Tripura Chief Minister and the Union Home Minister in New Delhi at about 4 p.m. tomorrow.

Before leaving Mr Sarkar told UNI that all extremist attacks were “pre-planned with an aim to disturb peace and communal harmony” before the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council elections, slated for April 30 and May 3.

Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta told PTI over phone from New Delhi that he had ordered the despatch of additional forces to help nab the ultras.

Meanwhile, Mizoram Home Minister Tawnluia tendered his resignation to the Chief Minister, Mr Zoramthanga, owning moral responsibility for the recent spurt in abductions by insurgents in the state.

However, the resignation was not accepted by the Chief Minister.