DIPHU, June 24 - Unidentified miscreants suspected to belong to some ragtag group of Naga militants killed well-known liquor businessman Mulsingh Rathore at Khatkhati in Bokajan last evening at around 8.30 pm.
As per information, miscreants armed with automatic weapons started firing at Rathore in his residence. Rathore was rushed to the hospital in an unconscious state but was declared dead by the attending doctors. Two of his employees also sustained grievous injuries in the incident. The injured were taken to a private hospital in Dimapur.
�We have recovered one abandoned vehicle at the vicinity of the place of incident and some other clues. Investigation is going on. Based on evidence and intelligence inputs, we are not ruling out the possibility of Naga militants� involvement as the assailants conversed in Nagamese dialect. The police is doing its best, you will be informed as soon as we make any headway� Gaurav Upadhyay, Superintendent of Police, Karbi Anglong told this correspondent over phone.
The Sub Divisional Police Officer of Bokajan and the police force of Khatkhati police station reached the site of the incident and cordoned off the area and all escape routes were sealed but till now no one has been arrested.
According to the police, a gang of six-seven masked men dressed in Army fatigues and armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols stormed into the residence of Moolsingh Rathore and attempted to rob him by holding the businessman�s wife, son and daughter in-law at gunpoint.
Meanwhile, the businessman who was returning home received a distress call from his son and rushed to the spot to confront the gang of armed assailants who had robbed valuables including jewellery and cash from his residence. Rathore was shot at several times from close range and he succumbed to his injuries on reaching the hospital following haemorrhage.
Police have recovered empty cases of AK ammunition and several bare cartridges of other calibre from the spot. The gang also reportedly made away with the licensed pistol of the businessman.
