At least five persons were killed and one was injured when suspected militants of Dimasa National Liberation Army (DNLA) fired indiscriminately at seven trucks and later set them on fire in Assam’s Dima Hasao district, around 200 km from Guwahati, on the night of Thursday, 26 August.
The development came months after security forces killed six DNLA militants in an encounter in the Dhansiri area of Karbi Anglong district in May.
According to sources in security establishments, the trucks – laden with raw material for cement and coal – were headed towards Lanka from Umrangsu when they came under sudden attack at Rangerbeel around 8:30 pm. “The militants first fired automatic weapons before setting the trucks ablaze,” the sources said.
“Information from ground suggests that a group of armed men stopped the trucks and started firing at them. We suspect the role of militant organisation DNLA behind this attack,” a source in the police said.
Formed in 2019, the DNLA is believed to be active in the Dima Hasao and the Karbi Anglong districts as well as parts of the neighbouring Nagaland. It is seeking an independent nation for the Dimasa community through an armed movement.
According to the source, the police recovered five bodies from the spot besides fired cases of ammunition that point to the use of automatic rifles.
“A massive operation has been launched by a joint team of Assam Police and Assam Rifles to nab the militants,” the source added.
Dima Hasao, one of Assam’s three hill districts, is largely populated by the Dimasa – an indigenous tribe of the state – with a community population of 1,42,413 as per the 2011 Census.
The district, once a hotbed of insurgency, witnessed peace for the past few years.
Attempts to speak with Dima Hasao SP Jayant Singh were futile.
(This article was first published in East Mojo and has been republished here with permission.)
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