This special report covers a late-night encounter in Salakati, within Assam’s Kokrajhar district, where security forces neutralized the suspected mastermind of a recent railway track explosion. The accused has been identified as Ipil Murmu, a Maoist leader from Jharkhand. According to police sources, Murmu ‘was a Maoist leader hailing from Jharkhand, had been operating secretly in Assam for the past few months’. He was the key figure behind the IED explosion on October 23 that damaged a railway track between Kokrajhar and Salakati stations. Acting on specific intelligence, security forces launched an operation on Friday night, leading to a gunfight where Murmu was fatally shot. Authorities are now conducting extensive search operations in the area to locate and apprehend other associates connected to Murmu’s network.