Maoist leader linked to Assam railway blast killed in Kokrajhar encounter: Police
Deceased, Ipil Murmu alias Rohit Murmu, sustained severe injuries during exchange of fire in the Nandangiri area on Saturday morning, later died during treatment at government hospital
Silchar: A Maoist leader allegedly linked to the improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Assam’s Kokrajhar district that damaged nearly two feet of railway track in the early hours of Thursday was killed in a police encounter in Kokrajhar, police said.
The deceased, Ipil Murmu alias Rohit Murmu, sustained severe injuries during the exchange of fire in the Nandangiri area of Salakati in the early hours of Saturday, according to Kokrajhar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Pushpraj Singh.
“We launched a search operation last night and located them in a hilly area of Nandangiri. They were in a group and suddenly attacked the police with firearms. Our team retaliated, and the others fled the area. We found one injured person who later died during treatment at a government hospital,” Singh told HT on Saturday.
The SSP said Murmu, a resident of Kokrajhar, had left home in 2013 to join a Maoist group in Jharkhand. “He was involved in a similar blast in Jharkhand’s Sahebganj in 2024 and was also engaged in illegal activities such as extortion and kidnapping there,” Singh said.
According to police, 10 cases were registered against Murmu in Jharkhand, where he was listed among the most wanted criminals.
Murmu’s body was sent for postmortem, and police have launched an operation to trace other suspected Maoist cadres in the area. “We recovered firearms and explosives from the site. There was a possibility of further attacks by this group. The investigation is ongoing,” Singh added.
A suspected IED blast occurred around 12:57 am, prompting an immediate investigation by local authorities.
On Friday evening, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said one person had been identified in the case, describing him as a Maoist leader. Sarma said that Murmu had come to Assam to establish Maoist networks in the state and to cause large-scale disruption by damaging railway infrastructure.
“The track was damaged, but we were fortunate that the goods train which passed through that section did not derail. If it had been a passenger train, the consequences could have been disastrous,” he said.
Sarma also mentioned that groups such as the United Liberation Front of Asom–Independent (ULFA-I) had recently attempted to create unrest by attacking an Indian Army camp in Tinsukia, but security forces effectively repelled the assault.
