A suspected Maoist identified as Apil Murmu, also known as Rohit Murmu, was killed in an early morning encounter in Nadanguri, Kokrajhar district. The operation was conducted by Assam Police following an intelligence tip-off about the presence of armed militants hiding in the forested area.

Superintendent of Police Pushpraj Singh confirmed that when the security forces approached the site, they came under automatic gunfire. The police retaliated swiftly, leading to a brief exchange of fire. After the operation, officers discovered one injured militant at the location, who was immediately taken to hospital but was later declared dead by doctors.

From the scene of the encounter, police recovered a pistol, two grenades, a voter ID card, and an Aadhaar card. Subsequent identification revealed the deceased to be 40-year-old Apil Murmu, who is alleged to have been involved in several insurgent operations across Assam and Jharkhand. Officials stated that Murmu was active since 2015 and maintained strong links with Maoist groups, moving frequently between the two states to avoid detection.

Murmu was also suspected of engineering an IED blast on a railway track in Jharkhand in October 2024, which mirrored the modus operandi of the recent Kokrajhar incident. A team from the Jharkhand Police had recently visited Kokrajhar to assist with intelligence gathering related to his movements and connections.

On 23 October 2025, train services across Lower Assam and parts of North Bengal had been disrupted after a suspected IED exploded on a railway track in Kokrajhar. The blast was under investigation by Assam Police and central agencies, which traced leads pointing to Murmu’s network.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that intelligence inputs indicated Murmu was attempting to establish a new Maoist outfit in the state by recruiting sympathisers from various tribal regions. He was reportedly coordinating with underground operatives based in Jharkhand for logistical and financial support.

The Chief Minister commended the police operation and reaffirmed that Assam will not allow any extremist group to take root again. He added that further investigations are underway to ascertain whether Murmu had accomplices still at large in the region.

Agencies