Assam: Gunmen rounded up Bengali-speaking men, sprayed bullets from behind
The five men who were murdered in Assam's Tinsukia district on Thursday night were taken to the banks of Brahmaputra river and shot from behind, IE reports. They were picked from Bisonimukh village by men dressed in military uniform, and then bullets were sprayed on them. Out of the five dead, three belonged to the same family. Here's more.
The deceased were identified as Shyamlal Biswas (60), Ananta Biswas (18), Abhinash Biswas (25), Subal Das (60) and Dhananjay Namasudra (23). The gunmen also took Shadeb Namashudra (17) along but he survived the attack. Shyamlal was the paternal uncle of Ananta and Abhinash. While all men were vegetable farmers, Shyamlal had a grocery store and Abhinash ran a mobile recharge shop.
Junmoni Sonowal Nayak, who was visiting the Biswas family, said Assamese-speaking men asked Ananta and Shadeb to follow them. At that time, Abhinash was outside with his two-year-old daughter. His wife Urmila said, "My husband handed me our daughter and left. Everyone thought they were soldiers because they were dressed that way." The gunmen threatened family members with a gun, so they didn't follow them.
The family then woke up Mohanlal, Abhinash's father. With a torch in his hand, he ran towards the gate but didn't see anyone. "They had probably reached the bridge. A few minutes later, we heard loud sounds, like firecrackers," he told IE.
Other eyewitnesses said Shyamlal was picked up from his shop while two others were rounded up from the street. When villagers rushed to the spot, after hearing the sound, Shyamlal and Subal were bleeding. Shadeb was lying unconscious in the steam. "My brother Shyamlal had four bullets in his body," Mohanlal said. At least 38 empty AK-47 cartridges were recovered from the spot, a senior officer said.
The bodies were handed over to families and last rites performed near the bridge where they were murdered. It was reported that ULFA(I) was involved in the murders, but the outfit denied any involvement. Notably, Jiten Dutta and Mrinal Hazarika (two pro-talk faction leaders) were arrested on Friday. Meanwhile, police have launched a manhunt to nab the accused amid widespread tension in the state.
