Security forces gun down 2 Ulfa cadres along Assam-Meghalaya border

Shillong: Two suspected United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) cadres were gunned down while another managed to escape in a gunfight with security forces along the Assam-Meghalaya border today.

Three Ulfa cadres, led by self-styled sergeant major Jayanta Kalita alias Jintu, were moving from Byrnihat in Meghalaya towards Sonapur in Assam, Border Security Forces said. An encounter took place near Khetri on the outskirts of Guwahati when a combined team of BSF, Assam Police and CRPF intercepted them. In the ensuing encounter, two militants were gunned down while Kalita managed to escape into the jungles of Meghalaya, the sources said. The two slain cadres were yet to be identified, but BSF said they could be bodyguards of Kalita, a top commander of the 109 battalion of the group operating in western Assam. A 9mm pistol, a magazine, one grenade and six live rounds were found from the slain rebels. Operations were on to nab the fleeing militant.