GUWAHATI, Sept 20: Amidst the emergence of a new militant outfit in Bodoland Territorial Region, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma categorically asserted that the state government would be firm in dealing with any militant outfit in the state.
Assam Police had during an exchange of fire, gunned down two members of a new militant group, United Liberation of Bodoland (ULB), in Kokrajhar district on Saturday.
“We will deal with militant organisations firmly. Police will be firm…police will deal with them,” Sarma told reporters in Silchar on Monday.
The chief minister also decried the modus operandi of a few masked men announcing the formation of ULB through a viral video.
Meanwhile, a 12-hour bandh called by pressure groups in Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) in protest against the gunning down of the two youths in an alleged fake encounter by security forces, affected the normal life in BTR on Monday.
This was the first bandh called in the region after the BTR peace accord that was signed by the disbanded factions of National Democratic Front of Bodoland and the Centre on January 27, 2020.
In regard to a question relating to the current situation along the Assam-Mizoram border, the chief minister said that the inter-state boundary is currently manned by CRPF personnel and that the situation was stable.
“The overall situation along the Assam-Mizoram border is peaceful at present. There has been no encroachment since November last year. Assam has also managed to free 200 hectares of encroached land in the past three to four months,” Sarma said.
“Now as a lot of development work is pending, we should not provoke anyone but maintain peace and keep our border safe,” he said.
Meanwhile, the office of the Cachar deputy commissioner, circuit house and central jail in Silchar would be shifted from its existing location to a spacious area on the outskirts of the town.
Conveying the information, the chief minister stated that a sum of Rs 50 crore has been earmarked for the integrated DC’s office.
Sarma instructed the Cachar deputy commissioner to complete the process for allotment of land for setting up the integrated office.