3 from ‘NSCN faction' killed in encounter with security forces in Assam
Three gunmen, suspected to be from a faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), were killed in an encounter with security forces in Assam's Dima Hasao district on Tuesday.
According to police, the encounter broke out when a search team comprising personnel from the Assam Police Special Units and the Assam Rifles, who were conducting a search operation based on a tip-off, came across an armed group.
According to a police statement, the National Highways Authority of India in Dima Hasao had received an extortion letter and security forces had received information that armed cadres, who had allegedly issued the letter, were hiding in the area. Based on this information, a search operation was launched on Saturday evening.
'This morning, the search parties came across an armed group, after almost 60 hours of the search, in the area between N Kubin-Hera Kilo. The armed miscreants fired on the government forces, who retaliated. There was a heavy exchange of fire. Search of the area led to the discovery of three bodies with two AK-series rifles and one pistol,' police said, adding that the dead are suspected to belong to 'some faction of the NSCN'.
In recent years, the Assam government has made efforts to bring militant outfits in the state to the mainstream. In 2023, a tripartite agreement was reached with the Dimasa National Liberation Army (DNLA) based in Dima Hasao, after which Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had announced 'the end of tribal insurgency in Assam'. However, Dima Hasao borders both Nagaland and Manipur, where factions of the NSCN are active.
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