Two shot dead by suspected Karbi militants

Diphu, Sep 17 (UNI) Suspected Karbi militants shot dead a truck driver and his assistant, six kms from Diphu town on the Diphu-Lumding road, in Karbi Anglong district last night.

The incident took place at the site where the new central university campus was being built. The victims had gone to deliver bricks from Bokajan.

The two victims, driver Bharat Gogoi and cleaner Mangal Barua, were asked several questions by the militants regarding their caste and ethnicity, as revealed by their third associate, a Bihari driver, who escaped by hiding under the truck.

''When the victims said they belonged to the Assamese community, they were shot dead,'' the Bihari driver was reported to have ated.

He said that the militants carried sophisticated weapons and was suspected to be United People's Democratic Solidarity(UPDS), though police is yet to confirm it. Karbi Anglong has a history of ethnic strife and violence against specific communities. The most recent incident was the massacre of 29 Hindi-speaking people in the district by militants of another Karbi group.

UNI