GUWAHATI, Nov 15 - The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is likely to take over the investigation of the killing of five persons in Dhola in Tinsukia district on November 1. Meanwhile, the Director of the NIA, along with other senior officers of the Agency paid a two day visit to the State on November 12 and 13 to review the progress of the cases being investigated by the NIA in the North East region.
Highly placed security sources told The Assam Tribune that a team of the NIA headed by the Superintendent of Police of Guwahati branch of the agency, visited Dhola immediately after the killing for an on the spot study of the incident. The team submitted the report of the preliminary investigation to the NIA headquarter. The NIA has submitted its report to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and it is likely to take over the investigation of the case immediately after receiving the green signal from the Ministry.
Sources revealed that investigation of the Dhola killing by the NIA is important because the incident has inter-state and perhaps international ramifications and being a federal investigating agency, the NIA would be in a much better position to investigate the case than the Assam Police. According to inputs available with the security agencies, those involved in the killing, sneaked into Dhola area from Arunachal Pradesh and according to one input, the group proceeded towards Myanmar through the neighbouring state immediately after committing the crime. But it is still not known whether the group managed to retreat back to Myanmar or they are still in Arunachal Pradesh.
Moreover, the NIA is a specialized agency to investigate cases of terrorist killings and most cases are investigated by senior officers. The officers of the NIA can concentrate fully on the cases investigated by them, which is not the case with the Assam Police as the investigating officers are also engaged in law and order duties. That is why, the conviction rate of the cases investigated by the NIA is much higher than the cases investigated by the state police forces. The cases relating to the mass killings by ultras belonging to the National Democratic Front of Boroland (S) were also handed over to the NIA and several senior leaders of the militant outfit have already been convicted, sources pointed out.
