By IANS,
Guwahati : Three paramilitary troopers were killed and four injured in an ambush by tribal militants Saturday in the election-bound Assam, officials said.
A police spokesman said heavily armed militants of the Karbi People’s Liberation Tigers (KPLT) attacked a three-vehicle convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) near village Rongshuli in Karbi Anglong district, about 220 km east of Assam’s main city of Guwahati.
“The CRPF personnel were returning after visiting a polling station when they were ambushed by KPLT militants using automatic weapons,” a senior police officer said.
Three CRPF troopers were killed on the spot and four others suffered multiple injuries, and were shifted to a local hospital.
“The last of the three vehicles bore the brunt of the attack,” the police officer said. “Troopers in the first two vehicles retaliated and the encounter is still on although we are not sure about any casualties on the KPLT side.”
The KPLT is a recently floated rag-tag militant group active in the hill district of Karbi Anglong. The outfit is demanding more autonomy for the Karbi tribes people in the region.
Four constituencies in the Karbi Anglong district go to the polls in the first phase of elections Monday (April 4).