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| Monday, 13 October 2003 |
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Three tea executives killed by militants in Assam state GUWAHATI, India, Sunday (AFP) At least three people were killed and two seriously wounded in an attack by separatists on a tea garden in India's northeastern state of Assam, officials said Sunday. A police spokesman said heavily armed militants belonging to the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) Saturday attacked customers at the Dighaltarang tea plantation in eastern Assam, 570 kilometres (353 miles) from the state capital Guwahati. "The ULFA militants fired indiscriminately using automatic weapons killing three local businessmen on the spot and critically injuring two others," a police official said. The attack comes after the ULFA demanded 20 million rupees (416,000 dollars) from the gardens of Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL), located in the same area in eastern Assam. "We have beefed up security in all the plantations located in the area to prevent any further rebel attacks," the official said. HLL, the Indian subsidiary of Unilever PLC, has 14 tea plantations and a cosmetic products plant in eastern Assam. The ULFA attack also came hours after Defence Minister George Fernandes addressed a meeting of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) in Dibrugarh in eastern Assam. "If required, the army could be deployed in the HLL gardens where the ULFA have served extortion notices," Fernandes told journalists. |
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