Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday said Priya Basumatary (16), a schoolgirl, who was shot dead by militants of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (Songbijit) on August 20 at Dwimuguri village in Chirang district, was not a police informer as alleged by the outfit. He, however, admitted delay by the police in recovering her body. The body was lying in the remote village until locals recovered it the next day and handed it over to the police at Salbari.
The police said NDFB (Songbijit) militants dragged out Priya, a Class IX student, from her house, accusing her of being a police informer and shot her dead in front of villagers. The militants also assaulted her parents. The incident occurred around 4.30 p.m., 12 hours after five NDFB (Songbijit) militants were killed in an encounter at Dwimuguri. The police said an operation was launched by the Army the same night but the body could not be recovered due to darkness and also the villagers were unwilling to cooperate out of fear.