In what has created resentment in plantation and businessmen circle of the state, suspected National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) rebels gunned down the managing director of Hotel Dynasty and owner of tea plantation companies in central Assam’s Sonitpur district on Tuesday.
SP Sonitpur Apurba Jibon Baruah said that NDFB (Ranjan Daimary faction) is suspected to have been involved in to the killing of Adilur Rahman, managing director of Hotel Dynasty.
As hundreds of people in Sonitpur and Guwahati came out on the street to condemn the killing of Rahman, the police claimed that they have picked up at least eight linkmen from the garden area where incident took place.
The family sources said that Rahman who was living in London had come recently and gone to see a new garden, which the family had bought about five days back.
Pointing out that Rahman was returning to Mahalaxmi tea estate after paying a visit to Tejalpati tea estate in Sonitpur district when the incident took place, security sources said that the two gardens are about 10 km apart and the route Rahman had taken was a shorter one through the forest. “Rahman, who himself was in the driving seat of his SUV, had just travelled about 4 km from Nogda Bazaar that heavily armed NDFB rebels ambushed. His two PSOs retaliated but a bullet from the militants hit his finger. He is being treated at the army hospital in Tezpur,” the police said, adding that Rahman was cautioned from taking the shorter Nogda Bazaa route.
The family and security sources also confirmed that NDFB had served an extortion notice to the family, which had reported the matter to the police through a formal complaint.
The NDFB, which claims to have declared unilateral ceasefire with the government, was keen on resolving conflict through talks. NDFB chairman Ranjan Daimary, who is languishing in jail, also had several rounds of meeting with Government of India’s interlocutor P.C. Halder. However, the incident has caste a shadow over the peace process as the NDFB has intensified extortion drive and resorting to violence to intimidate its targets.