Bodo rebels shoot 16-year-old girl for being an ‘informer’

The brutal killing of a 16-year-old girl by the Songbijit faction of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in full view of Dwimugri village residents in Chirang district of western Assam on Thursday, sent shock-waves across the state. The girl, identified as Priya Basumatari, was shot after the militant faction accused her of being a police informer. They alleged that it was on her tip-off that the security forces gunned down five militants on Wednesday.

“Villagers told us a group of heavily armed militants dragged the girl out from her house, and then compelled the people to gather at one place where they pronounced her a police informer, held her responsible for Tuesday’s operation in which five NDFB(S) cadres were killed and then shot her from point blank range,” SP Ranjan Bhuyan said.

The Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has decided to register a case. “We are taking up the matter seriously,” said Chairperson Runumi Gogoi.