Assam: Suspected Maoist allegedly involved in Kokrajhar blast killed in gunfight

A suspected Maoist who was allegedly involved in an Improvised Explosive Device blast in Assam’s Kokrajhar earlier this week was killed in a gunfight with the police on Saturday, reported PTI.

The blast on Thursday took place around five kilometres from Kokrajhar railway station. Several feet of railway line were ripped apart, leading to train services being disrupted in lower Assam and parts of north Bengal.

Train movement on the track had resumed at 5.25 am on Thursday, reported The Indian Express.

On Friday, the police were quoted as saying by the newspaper that efforts were underway to identify if an extremist group was responsible for the blast.

Kokrajhar Senior Superintendent of Police Pushpraj Singh said that later on Friday, they received information that an armed group was hiding on Nadanguri hill in Kokrajhar, reported The Indian Express.

“We received an input that they are planning some big attack,” added Singh.

Subsequently, a police team started a search operation in the area. At around 6 am, the team was fired upon, according to the police officer.

“The police team fired in retaliation,” Singh was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. “After that, when they searched the area, they found an injured person. We immediately moved him to the hospital, where he was declared brought dead.”

The person who died was identified as Epil...

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