ULFA attack: Bengalis organisations calls for bandh in Assam

After five people belonging to Bengali community were killed by suspected United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) terrorists in Assam's Tinsukia district on Thursday, scores of Bengali organisations are observing a 24-hour bandh on Saturday to mark the protest against the killings.

Five people, identified as Ananta Namasudra, Abinash Namasudra, Subal Das, Dhanai Namasudra and Syamal Biswas, were killed at around 7 pm on Thursday in Bishnoimukh village near Dhola-Sadiya bridge.

Expressing angst over the incident, the All Assam Bengali Youth Students Federation on Friday had also called for a 12-hour shutdown in the town as a sign of protest against the gruesome killings.

Taking cognizance of the matter, states' Water Resource Minister Keshab Mahanta announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh to each family of the deceased.

State Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had also condemned the attack and directed the law enforcement agencies to take stringent action against the culprits.

The ULFA is a separatist outfit operating in North-East India for the indigenous Assamese people. Their main aim is to establish a sovereign Assam with an armed struggle. The Central government had banned ULFA in 1990 citing it as a terrorist organisation, while the United States Department of State lists it under "other groups of concern.