Local organisations staged protests in Assam on Tuesday, a day after a tea grower and his son were killed by United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) militants, The Assam Tribune reported. The police arrested three men on Tuesday in connection with the deaths.
The protestors claimed that the state government failed to provide security despite having intelligence about the presence of militants on Monday.
Anteswar Mahanta, the president of a village defence party, and his 23-year-old son Karun were killed on Monday evening in Kakopathar town of Tinsukia district, The Telegraph reported.
The police said that one of the men believed to be involved carries a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head. Meanwhile, United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) claimed responsibility for the killings, and said in a press statement that the two men were working as spies for the Army and the Assam Police.
“They were trying to persuade our cadres to lay down arms,” the outfit said in an email statement to The Times of India. “We had warned them thrice but they did not mend their ways. We have zero tolerance against such people.”
The organisations that held protests on Tuesday included the All Assam Students’ Union, All Assam Moran Students’ Union and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad. Residents called a shutdown in the Kakopathar town from 10 am to 4 pm on Tuesday, and blocked traffic on the National Highway-52.
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