JORABAT, Jan 11 - The mortal remains of Vinod Phangso, the Office in-Charge of the Barpathar Police Station who was killed by armed miscreants at Chungajan in Golaghat district last night, reached his native village of Chamata Pathar near Sonapur on the outskirts of Guwahati this evening, where police personnel and general public paid their tearful homage.
Floral tributes were paid by officers of the Assam Police, villagers and residents of Dimoria, leaders of various organizations of the area, apart from friends and relatives.
As soon as the residents of Phangso�s native village and relatives got the shocking news, a pall of gloom descended on the entire locality.
Phangso passed his Class X in 1998 from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Digaru, and completed his BA (English) from Cotton College, Guwahati.
He is survived by his wife, Malya Phangso and a six-month-old daughter.
He was the eldest of three sons of the late Madhav Phangso and Rajani Teron.
Dergaon Correspondent adds: The OC�s killing has created a great sensation among the police as well as public in Golaghat district, with the police suspecting that extremists� involvement in car-lifting incidents eventually led to the brave police officer�s death.
According to information, the 35-year-old police officer, along with a team followed a numberless DI Pick Up Van around 7.45 last night after getting information of a car theft case.
When he asked the occupants of the vehicle to stop, the miscreants opened fire, supposedly from an AK-47 rifle, near Chungajan police outpost around 9 pm, killing the OC instantly. Constable Monoj Saikia (37) also received serious injuries.
When contacted, the Additional SP of Golaghat, Nomal Mahato, told this correspondent that extremists might be behind the incident as the miscreants were armed.
�The area is near the disputed belt of Assam and Nagaland, where extremist groups like NSCN, NDFB, ANLA, etc, are quite active,� the ASP said.
The ASP said that an inquiry has been ordered and the picture will be clearer once the probe report is out.
It is pertinent to mention that areas like Barpathar, Sarupathar and Chungajan are prone to car-lifting incidents as this is the route that vehicle drivers take to travel to the Nagaland side.
Phangso, who joined the police station on August 26 last, was known as an efficient and honest officer who was able to control the car-lifting menace as well as other anti-social activities in the area to a large extent, making him a thorn in the flesh of criminals.
The OC joined police service in 2006. Prior to this assignment, he had served as the traffic in-charge at Golaghat Sadar PS. Earlier, he had served at Tinsukia and Dibrugarh in different ranks. He received several awards and citations as a mark of recognition of his service.
