DHD-J shatters truce hopes

- CRPF patrol party ambushed, one jawan killed, four injured

Silchar, July 9: Militants of the Jewel Gorlosa faction of the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) today ambushed a CRPF patrol, killing a jawan and injuring four others near Maibong town, 50km north of the district headquarters town of Haflong at 8.30 this morning.

The group’s unilateral three-month-long ceasefire expired on June 25 but it had refrained from any violence since May, indicating that it might extend the truce.

The district police fear that the ambush might be a harbinger of more attacks.
The south Assam DIG of police, Y.K. Gautam, said the incident occurred when troops of the CRPF’s 189 battalion were returning to their camp at Maibong after a nightlong patrol. A convoy of CRPF cars was trailing the team.

The slain sepoy was identified as Dipak Mandal. Havildars D.K. Rai and V. Prashad and constables Nissar Ahmed Tanti and Gagandeep, who were injured in the attack, are being treated at a CRPF camp. They are likely to be shifted to Haflong civil hospital.

Police sources at Maibong said nearly a dozen rebels had laid a trap on a hill slope from where they fired with their AK-47 rifles. The CRPF troops were caught unawares but did not lose much time in retaliating.

It could not be confirmed if the DHD (Jewel) rebels suffered any casualties.
This is the first major ambush by the group after a spate of attacks on railwaymen, truckers and civilians in the second week of May. The security forces are also interpreting the attack as a reprisal after the BSF dismantled a DHD (Jewel) camp at Dimadau Yapoo hills between Haflong and Dihangmukh villages on Monday.

Today’s attack has cast a shadow of uncertainty over the resumption of the NF Railway services between Silchar and Lumding. Railway services between these two towns were shut down on May 15 after a spate of guerrilla upheavals in the district. Nearly a dozen persons were killed during the attacks.

The railway employees working on the metre gauge track in the hill section had vacated their quarters and workstations and taken shelter at Badarpur, Silchar, Haflong and Lumding.
In another incident, three DHD (J) linkmen were apprehended from Rangapahar under Dhansiri police outpost in the district today. A .32 pistol was found in their possession.