From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: With recovery of two more bodies on Monday taking the death toll in the massive violence in Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Administered Districts (BTADC) of Kokrajhar and Chirang gone upto 19, even as Rajdhani Express was stopped by protestors in Kokrajhar district, police said.
The two bodies were recovered from the banks of river Gouranga on Monday morning. The All Bodo Minority Student s Union (ABMSU) called for a 12-hour bandh in the BTADC areas and Dhubri distroct in Western Assam in protest while night curfew was still on in Kokrajhar ton areas.
Police personnel fired in the air when the bandh supporters tried to forcibly close down shops in Golokgunj and Gauripur towns in Dhubri district during a 12-hour bandh, called by the ABMSU to protest attacks on the minorities in BTADC districts.
A source in Kokrajhar informed that there were reports of arson incidents taking place in many remote villages in both Kokrajhar and Chirang districts while the death toll has gone upto to 19 in this massive spell of violence that has sent the administration into a tizzy.
Bandh supporters also ransacked the office of Bodoland Peoples’ Front in Gauripur town. Asam government deputy senior cabinet ministers Rakibul Hussain and Nazrul Islam to the violence-hit areas to take stock of the situation. The ministers called upon the ABMSU to withdraw the bandh while appealing to all sections of the people to maintain calm. The ABMSU subsequently withdrew the bandh following an appeal by ministers.
The Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express was stopped at Pratapkhat between Kokrajhar and Gossaigaon by people from nearby villages who alleged that their houses were damaged by miscreants when they moved to relief camps. Various trains had to be controlled at different points as a result of blockade of Rajdhani Express, a Railway source informed here.
An additional nine companies of para-military forces were deployed in the district while the army was assisting in maintaining law and order. The BTADC administration has asked for 18 additional companies to tackle the crisis situation.
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) President Bhubaneswar Kalita urged the state government to take measures to curb the violence and directed party workers to form peace committees and take out peace rallies. A five-member team of the APCC left for Kokrajhar and Chirang districts to assess the situation and help in restoring peace.
The violence has spread to more areas taking advantage of delay in mobilization of forces to vulnerable areas while thousands of people belonging to both Bodo tribe and religious minority community have fled their homes to the safer places and relief camps.
The BTADC chief Hagrama Mohilary has called upon Assam government to send more forces to the troubled area. He alleged that the disturbances was a ‘political conspiracy to defame the Bodo people’. Mohilary said any attempt to break communal harmony would be seriously dealt with.
Deserted look has descended in the entire violence-hit area including Kokrajhar town where night curfew is enforced. The administration has so far set up more than 50 relief camps to give shelter t violence-hit people. Meanwhile, Assam government has announced ex gratia of Rs. 3 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased.
The violence was triggered in the wake of firing on two minority student leaders who were critically injured — Mohibul Islam of the All Bodoland Minority Students’ Union and Abdul Siddique Sheikh of the All Assam Minority Students’ Union .
In a retaliatory attack, four former Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLt) cadres were killed on Friday night in the district and this led to further attacks and counter-attacks resulting in the deaths.