5 killed as Assam militants strike

DIPHU-ASSAM: Five persons were today killed and 34 injured as militants exploded a bomb in a train and followed it up with gunning down of a Hindi-speaking couple in the central Assam district of Karbi Anglong.

Suspected cadres of the banned Karbi Longri NC Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF) exploded a timed device inside a general compartment of the Tinsukia-Lumding Passenger train as it approached Diphu station around 8 am killing two passengers, including a child, and injuring 35 others, officials said.

The two passengers who died on the spot were identified as Kamal Singh Teron (26) and Raj Debnath (7). A woman passenger, Namita Debnath (25), succumbed to her injuries in Diphu Civil Hospital, where the injured were admitted.

Two others, whose condition was stated to be serious, were shifted to the Army Hospital at Dimapur in neighbouring Nagaland, they said.

Militants later shot dead Hindi-speaking couple Raju Sahu and his wife and injured their child at Dalamara.
The militants fled after the incident causing panic in the remote village of the hill district, sources said.

KLNLF ultras, enforcing an 'indefinite economic blockade' had on earlier occasions targeted Hindi-speaking people of the district. This is the second major attack in Assam after the October 30 serial blasts, which left 87 people dead.