JOIN USAssam toll rises to 65 as violence escalates
Violence spread in Assam on Wednesday as the toll in the massacre of tribals by Bodo militants rose to 65, including 21 women and 18 children.
This sparked a retaliation in which Bodo homes were torched and a police station attacked. Three more tribals died allegedly due to police firing.
According to reports, two Bodos were killed when the Adivasi people burnt a number of houses belonging to the community in Kokrajhar district. There was no official confirmation of the deaths.
Violence spread to the Udalguri district when militants from the anti-talks Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), who were behind Tuesday’s violence in three districts, fired on villagers and burnt their houses, injuring one person.
The attack triggered another round of retaliation, in which the Adivasis set ablaze over 60 huts of the Bodos at Lamabari and Udalguri weekly market.
As authorities mulled an offensive against NDFB(S), Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh called the carnage a “terror” act and that it would be dealt with accordingly.
The Army has been deployed in all the violence-hit areas, and is “actively” involved in maintaining law and order situation since Tuesday night, said a defence spokesperson.
Curfew has been enforced in all the disturbed areas under Sonitpur, Chirang and Kokrajhar districts, said the police.
An all-out offensive will be launched against NDFB militants jointly by the police, paramilitary forces and the Army in the wake of the violence, sources said in Delhi.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Rajnath Singh in Delhi and attended by top officials of Home and Defence ministries and paramilitary forces, they said.
Singh rushed to Guwahati to review the situation at a meeting with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and top security officials.
The chief minister urged Singh to order an NIA inquiry into the killings, and the Union minister consented to it, said sources in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) on Wednesday night.
The police said 37 people were killed in Sonitpur district, 25 in Kokrajhar and three in Chirang after heavily armed NDFB militants swooped down on remote Adivasi villages of
the three districts on Tuesday evening.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the killing of tribals in Sonitpur and Kokrajhar as an “act of cowardice”.
The Centre said it was rushing about 5,000 paramilitary personnel at the request of the Assam government, even as the chief minister asked for more security personnel.
Around 2,500 people have fled their homes and are staying in relief camps after the attack, said an official.
Even as Gogoi said firm steps were being taken to prevent the situation from escalating, violent protests by the Adivasis erupted against the killings.
The police opened fire as angry protesters turned violent in Dhekiajuli of Sonitpur district.
agitators, armed with bow and arrows, were marching towards the police station in Dhekiajuli town, and despite repeated appeals by the police to stop, did not stop and attempted to storm the police station, he said.
The police initially attempted to disperse the protesters by resorting to lathi-charge, but opened fire when the situation worsened, said a police official.
Three persons were killed and several others injured in police action, he said.
Angry protesters also set ablaze 20 houses allegedly belonging to the people of the Bodo community in Phuloguri in Sonitpur district.
The Union Cabinet met in New Delhi and paid homage to the victims.
Modi sanctioned Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the seriously injured as ex gratia from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF). A sum of “Rs 86 lakh is being released to the state government from the PMNRF”, said a statement from Modi’s office.