Assam police constable killed in firing

An Assam Police constable was killed and two Forest Department personnel were injured today when unidentified persons from across the Nagaland border fired on security personnel and workers who were evicting encroachers at Doldoli Reserve Forest in Assam, leading to heavy exchange of fire.
An injured Arnab Baruah, the constable belonging to the 2nd Assam Police Task Force, died on way to hospital while the two forest personnel were admitted to hospital with bullet injuries, Additional Superintendent of Police (Border) Nanda Singh said in Guwahati.
With the police retaliating, the gunmen fired throughout the day from bunkers at the security and forest men who were evicting encroachers in the Doldoli Reserve Forest land at Dikoibari, Singh told PTI.

Firing from sophisticated INSAS rifles, light machine guns and rocket launchers, Singh said, the attackers also hurled bombs at the labourers and officials from the police, forest and Karbi Anglong district administration jointly carrying out the eviction drive.
About 150 illegally constructed houses were pulled down in the forest area falling under Diphu police station during the operation today, the ASP said.
A total of 69 illegally constructed houses under Lahorijan border outpost, 300 under Dikoi (BOP) and 70 under Sankertilla (BOP) were also demolished yesterday.
Since January this year, Singh said anti-socials had occupied several hundred hectares of the Reserve Forest and were periodically firing on security personnel at Sankertilla, Kasiram, Lahorijan and Rangapa BOP areas.

In this connection, nine cases were registered in Diphu police station and 55 persons arrested since then, he said.