Assam: 5 people dead after militants set seven trucks on fire, three injured

Guwahati: Five people were killed and three others were injured when suspected militants fired indiscriminately at seven trucks and later set them afire on Thursday night in Assam's Dima Hasao district, as per police officials.

A senior Police official in Guwahati said that the DNLA extremists stopped the trucks, including six carrying cement and one loaded with coal, and started firing indiscriminately. At least seven drivers and assistants of the trucks managed to flee inside the nearby jungles when the extremists fired on them from the sophisticated weapons.

Assam Rifles troopers and Assam police personnel led by district police chief Jayant Singh have rushed to the spot -- Rangerbeel on Umrangsu Lanka Road -- and recovered the charred bodies of the five drivers from the burnt trucks.

The security forces have launched a massive combing operation to nab the militants in the hilly district, which is around 300 km southeast of Guwahati.

The trucks were carrying coal and other material for a nearby cement manufacturing plant.

The Dima Hasao district, formerly North Cachar District, one of Assam's three hill districts was earlier a hotbed of militant activities and in recent years, there was no major extremist violence.

In May, the security forces during an encounter gunned down six DNLA cadres in the Dhansiri area of Karbi Anglong district. Arms and ammunition were recovered from their possession.

The operation of the security forces was launched after the DNLA rebels killed a villager in the area. The outfit reportedly was carrying out extortion and abduction in the Dima Hasao district and adjoining areas. Several top leaders of the militant outfit were earlier arrested by the security forces.

Formed in 2018, the DNLA is believed to be active in the Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong districts, as well as in neighbouring Nagaland.