Five killed in Assam violence

Suspected underground militants shot dead three people, including a woman and critically injured a railway station master in Assam on Thursday night, official reports said.

Bodo militants shot dead two persons at Debaguri village under Khairbari police station in Darrang district while police recovered the body of a woman following an encounter with Bodo militants at Bengalipara under Goreswar police station of Kamrup district, other reports said.

Suspected United Liberation Front of Assam militants tried to set Tinsukia railway station master afire, burning him badly. He was rushed to Assam Medical College Hospital at Dibrugarh, reports said.

The sub-deputy collector's office at Naharkatia in upper Assam was set ablaze by the militants while Bodo extremists damaged a bridge on National Highway 37 by exploding a bomb in Barama of Nalbari district, reports said.

Meanwhile, defying the outlawed ULFA-sponsored six-hour statewide "janata curfew" in Assam, prominent citizens, journalists and the people from different walks of life took out a "peace march" in the capital town on Friday.