New Delhi: A NIA Special Court has sentenced Rabi Basumatary alias Rongjabaja, a Bodo militant to life imprisonment, along with rigorous imprisonment for 10 years, in various cases of IPC and UAPA in a 2014 case of indiscriminate firing on villagers in Assam.
The sentence was announced by the NIA court on Tuesday to Rabi, who was convicted by the court on March 13, 2023. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in two cases and rigorous imprisonment (RI) in two others (Sections 302, 307 and 34 of the IPC and section 16 (1) (a) & 20 of the UAPA . “He has also been fined in all the cases, and will have to undergo additional simple imprisonment in case of failure to pay the same,” an NIA official said.
Seven villagers were killed and two grievously injured in the case, in which Rabi was arrested in September 2016 and chargesheeted by NIA in March 2017 through the first supplementary chargesheet.
The original chargesheet in the case was filed in Gossaigaon (Balapara), Assam, against accused Pradip Brahma alias Pwler in August 2015. A second supplementary chargesheet was filed in October 2019 against accused Upen Basumatary alias Usaobadao, while a third supplementary chargesheet was filed in January 2021 against five absconding accused persons.
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The Special NIA Court convicted and sentenced accused Pradip Brahma to life imprisonment in July 2016. The trial against Upen is ongoing and the search for the absconding accused is continuing.
Investigation into the case revealed that Rabi Basumutary was a member of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB), an armed separatist outfit fighting to obtain a sovereign Boroland for the Bodo people.
On May 1, 2014, Rabi, along with six other NDFB cadres, had entered Balapra village under the Gosaigaon police station area of Kokrajhar district of Assam, where they opened indiscriminate fire on the villagers on instructions from top NDFB leadership headed by G Bidai and Songbijit.
The Special NIA Court subsequently registered the case as Special Case 05/2015. Rabi has been sentenced under Section 302/34 of IPC - Imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs 1000 (in default, simple imprisonment of one month). He has also been charged under Section 307/34 of IPC - Rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and fine of Rs 1000. He has also been sentenced under Section 16(1)(a) UA(P) Act, 1967 and Section 20 of UA (P) Act, 1967.
