NIA to investigate Assam violence; death toll stands at 32
Shoot-at-sight orders have been issued by authorities in wake of the massacre
Guwahati: Nine more bodies were recovered on Saturday taking the toll to 32 in the violence unleashed by NDFB-Songbijit militants in two of Assam's Bodoland
Territorial Administration Districts since Thursday, even as state government deciding to hand over the investigation to NIA.
The bodies, including four children and two women, were recovered from Khagrabari village under Salbari sub-division adjacent to the Manas National Park in Baksa district, official sources said.
The mayhem started on Thursday when heavily armed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbijit) shot dead three members of a family, near Ananda Bazar area in the same district.
This was followed by firing by insurgents at Balapara-I village in neighbouring Kokrajhar district on Friday that left eight persons dead and several others injured.
Last night, 12 bullet-riddled bodies, including those of five women and a child, were recovered from Nankekhadrabari and Nayanguri villages in Baksa district where nearly 100 houses and a wooden bridge were set ablaze by the ultras.
Police fired in the air after a mob armed with spears and sticks tried to set ablaze a forest range office at Basbari in Baksa district this morning, the sources said.
This led hundreds of people to flee their homes with some taking shelter in two relief camps. Of the four districts in the BTAD Baksa, Kokrajhar Udalguri and Chirang, the first two were affected.
Chief minister Tarun Gogoi who chaired a cabinet meeting decided to hand over investigation to the National Investigation Agency to find those responsible for the violence.
"Let the NIA investigate who is involved. None will be spared if found responsible for the violence", Gogoi told reporters after the meeting here.
"I want to coordinate with neighbouring Bhutan as the militants may hide there after committing the crime. If the NIA comes then that can be done," the chief minister said.
The Army has been staging flag marches in the violence-hit areas to instill confidence among people and to bring the situation under control, the sources said.
The violence started when heavily armed NDFB-S militants entered a house and shot dead three members of a family, including two women, and injured an infant of a minority community near Ananda Bazar area in Baksa district on Thursday.
This was followed by indiscriminate firing by the insurgents at Balapara-I village in neighbouring Kokrajhar district in the early hours on Friday which left eight persons dead and injuring several others in their own houses.
Last night, 12 bullet-riddled bodies, including those of five women and a child, were recovered from Nankekhadrabari and Nayanguri villages in Baksa district where nearly 100 houses and a wooden bridge were set ablaze by the ultras.
Meanwhile, police fired in the air at Basbari in Baksa district when a mob armed with spears and sticks tried to set ablaze a Forest Range office this morning. The agitators complained that their houses had been burnt down by militants and government had failed to protect their lives and property, official sources said.
A total of 22 people have so far been arrested in connection with the violence. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) A P Rout told reporters that investigation had revealed involvement of NDFB(S) in the violence.
Six of the ten companies of paramilitary forces sent by the Centre to tackle the situation have reached Assam with three of them sent to Kokrajhar and two to Baksa, Rout said.
Another company was on way to Udalguri district under BTAD as a preventive measure, he said.
On operations by army to control the situation, the ADGP said counter-insurgency operations by the troops were on for a long time, but now extra forces ad been posted there in view of the current situation.
NDFB denies involvement
The NDFB (Songbijit) has denied involvement in Assam violence claiming it was "a political conspiracy by Assam government to trigger clashes between two communities.
A press statement by NDFB Secretary (Information and Publicity Wing) N E Esara said "we ask the Assam government and its officials to stay away from such accusation without the slightest justification".
"Accusation against NDFB in the ongoing violence in BTAD by (DGP) Khagen Sarma and some leaders are baseless", the release claimed.
Esara charged "it was a political conspiracy hatched by Assam government to bring about a confrontation between the two victimised Bodo and Muslim communities" and to resort to violence for political gain.
"The Assam government and its anti-Boro agents are the mastermind behind the creation of the non-Boro, Rabha, Tiwa, Mishing and Karbi organisations", he alleged.