Sole survivor of Assam massacre hid in a pit

DIBRUGARH: When six gunmen in fatigues came up to a grocery shop at Khebari village in Tinsukia around 7.30pm on Thursday, 22-year-old Sahadev Namasudra was inside the shop with five others, listening to a song on his mobile phone. Minutes later, all five men were dead, shot by the gunmen. Sahadev lived to tell the tale of his miraculous escape.

The gunmen had asked all six to step out and walk to a field around 200 metres from the shop. When the men opened fire, Sahadev rolled over into a pit and hid there. Sahadev told TOI , "The 5-6 gunmen called out to us in Hindi but spoke among themselves in Assamese. They said they had questions for us. They led us to an open area. We were made to sit in a line. Suddenly they aimed their guns and opened fire."

"They first shot in the air, then aimed at us. They all fired together and it was over in a minute. I was last in line and in the smoke and dust rolled over into a pit. After around five minutes, when the gunmen left, I got up to see the others flat on the ground."

Sahadev says four of the men died immediately. "One of them, Dhananjay Namasudra, was seriously injured. I took him home but he died."