Guwahati: An army colonel and his driver were killed by a landmine in the northeastern state of Assam yesterday, officials said. A defence spokesman said the army vehicle hit the mine near the Balipara reserve forests in Sonitpur district, 210km north of the state's main city Guwahati. "The impact of the landmine was so severe that the vehicle blew up, killing the colonel and his driver on the spot," an army commander said. "The colonel was on his way to his base at Tenga in adjoining Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China, when the attack took place," the official said. Army and police teams have cordoned off the area and launched a hunt.
Police blame the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) for the attack. Police said militants in the restive state were trying to stage violent attacks ahead of India's Independence Day on August 15. The NDFB is a rebel group fighting for a separate homeland for the Bodo tribe in Assam since 1996, although it had agreed to a ceasefire with the Indian government since 2005.
State authorities have often accused the group of violating the truce and indulging in violence.
India's northeast, which shares borders with China, Myanmar and Bangladesh, is a volatile region where nearly 40 separatist, tribal or leftist groups are active in five states. More than 15,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in the region in the past decade.