ULFA guns down three more Hindi-speaking people in Asom

Guwahati, May 16 (UNI) Close on the heels of yesterday's killing of six Hindi-speaking people, at least three more were gunned down by ULFA rebels in Asom this evening.

Police said two motor-cycle borne ULFA rebels barged into a grocery shop at Gelabeel, about eight km from Dergaon in Golaghat district of upper Asom, and shot dead the owner, Tankeswar Sahu, from point blank range.

As the rebels fled the place, they also gunned down a customer, Dipu Agarwal - also a Hindi-speaking - who was standing outside the shop.

In another incident, ULFA rebels at Ghiladhari in the same district killed another Hindi-speaking man.

Official sources said three rebels accosted Srinath Agarwala at his grocery shop near Ghiladhari police station, and shot him dead from point blank range.

Nine Hindi-speaking people were killed since the ULFA launched a rerun of the January attacks last night.

Yesterday, six people, all Hindi-speaking, were killed by ULFA militants in two separate strikes at Tengakhat in Dibrugarh district and Borhat in the adjoining Sivasagar district.

Earlier today, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi sought additional forces from the Centre to tackle the renewed strikes on the Hindi-speaking people.

Buckling under pressure, the state government this evening effected a major police reshuffle in the state.

UNI