An ULFA militant was today killed in an encounter with a joint team of army and police near the Oil India Limited (OIL) headquarters town of Duliajan in upper Assam's Dibrugarh district.
Acting on a tip-off that two ULFA extremists were hiding in an abandoned house under the Gabhoru Bridge in Duliajan police station area, the joint team launched an operation to nab the duo, police and army sources said.
The ultras lobbed a grenade at the security forces who retaliated and a heavy gun battle ensued for an hour at around 3 AM, when one militant was shot dead, sources said.
A pistol, an AK-47 rifle magazine, seven empty cartridges and the shell of the grenade hurled at the team were recovered from the slain ultra, they said.
The other militant escaped under the cover of darkness and a search operation was launched to hunt him out in the area about 10 km from the OIL town, they added.
The ultra was yet to be identified as he was a fresh recruit of the underground outfit and was suspected to be in the area to collect extortion money.
