2014 tribal massacre in Assam: NIA court sentences NDFB (S) cadre to 7-year jail

New Delhi, July 3: Khamrei Basumatary, a member of the banned millitant groupd the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit faction), was sentenced to seven years jail term for his role in massacre of over 30 persons, including women and children, in Sonitpur district of Assam on December 23, 2014.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) in January 2016 arrested three NDFB's Songbijit faction militants - Ajoi Basumatary, Dilip Basumatary, and Khamrei Basumatary - from Kohima in a joint operation with Nagaland police.

A special NIA court Wednesday sentenced an NDFB(S) cadre to seven years' imprisonment in a 2014 case of tribal massacre in Sonitpur district of Assam in which 30 people were killed, officials said, as per PTI report.

Khamrei Basumatary was also slapped with a fine of Rs 10,000 by the court in Guwahati, they said.

"The accused was the 2nd Lieutenant of proscribed organization NDFB-S and harboured main accused, Ajoy Basumatary and Dilip Basumatary, at a house in Kohima," the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said in a statement.

The case was registered at Bishwanath Chariali police station on December 25, 2014 and subsequently taken over by NIA.

"The case pertains to the terrorist attack on December 23, 2014 by NDFB(S) cadres killing 30 persons belonging to Adivasi Community at 9 and 10 No. line of Sonajuli area under Biswanath Chariali Police Station," it said.

According to reports, it was under the direction and leadership of Ajoy, the NDFB-S cadres had massacred 36 persons, including women and children, in Sonitpur district of Assam on December 23.