GUWAHATI: The death toll in Assam militant attacks has risen to 48 with the recovery of more bodies. The victims are adivasis which include women and children.

They have been shot dead by Bodo militants of Songbijit faction of National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) at five different locations across the state on Tuesday.

The attacks started at around 5 evening at Maitalubasti in Sonitpur district where worst attack took place. Police are recovering the bodies in this area inside the Pabhoi reserve forest.

Within few minutes of the attack, the militants struck at a village called Pakhriguri in Kokrajhar district in the western part of the state where three people were killed.

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The next three attacks were carried out again in Sonitpur district at two other places. So far 10 people have been found dead in Phulbari and another six at Batasipur. All the places of incidents are in Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD).There was no casualty at Ultapani in Kokrajhar district.

Assam Police additional director general of police (special branch) Pallab Bhattacharya said that the actual casualty figure is yet the ascertained but there is information about more than 40 people having been killed. “The places are remotely located and close to India-Bhutan border and our people are reaching the locations,” he said.

The militant outfit had on Monday warned the state government of retaliatory attack if security forces did not stop operations against the cadres. The ADGP said, “We had information that the outfit would carry out retaliatory attacks but it was difficult to pinpoint the locations.”

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A source said, “The NDFB (S) picked up the adivasi community this time because it thinks that the adivasi community residing in forest areas near the India-Bhutan border might have given away information about their locations to the police and army based on which counterinsurgency operations were launched.”

The attacks came in less than three hours after chief minister Tarun Gogoi remarked that the state government will not surrender before the threats from the NDFB (S) and will continue the counterinsurgency operations.

The outfit was hit the hardest on Sunday when army and police jointly killed two of its cadres and recovered a huge cache or arms and weapons inside the Chirang reserve forest.

