Rebels kill 30 in Assam for not voting for Bodos

GUWAHATI: Toll in Assam violence rose to 30 as seven more bodies were recovered from Narayanguri area of Baksa district in Assam early Saturday, according to TV reports.

The police have arrested 12 people in Baksa in connection with the terror attacks. Eight people have been picked up for questioning in Kokrajhar.

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has called for an emergency meet over the violence.

Indefinite curfew has been imposed in Kokrajhar, Baksa and Chirang districts of Assam after Bodo militants killed 30 people.

Bloodletting in Assam’s disturbed district of Kokrajhar had flared up on Friday with Bodo militants massacring 23 Bengali-speaking Muslims in the belief that they hadn’t voted for their candidates in the April 24 Lok Sabha elections.

Curfew was imposed in parts of western Assam following the killing by militants loyal to the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (IK Songbijit faction) which began late Thursday evening. Officials said militants first raided Narsingbari village in Baksa district bordering Bhutan, about 250 km west of Guwahati, around 7.30 pm on Thursday. They were on bicycles and fired indiscriminately at a house killing three women on the spot and wounding two critically.

“Early on Friday, another band of Bodo militants raided Balapara village in Kokrajhar and fired at three houses. Seven people were killed in this attack,” the official said. A three-year-old girl injured in the firing died on her way to hospital. By 3.30 pm on Friday, Bodo militants had attacked settlements near Manas National Park in Baksa and shot dead 12 Bengali-speaking Muslims and burnt down 30 thatched houses.

The attacks triggered exodus of hundreds of Bengali-speaking Muslims from Duramari and Dotoma areas in Kokrajhar. Bodoland Territorial Council chief executive member Hagrama Mohilary rushed to those villages and asked people not to run away. He promised to give them security.

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi had appealed for calm saying, “We request people not to flee their homes. We will do everything possible to frustrate the designs of the insurgents and apprehend them at the earliest.”

A Bodoland People’s Front leader said, “Everything was fine till April 23. We were assured that we would get about 80% Muslim votes in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Kokrajhar on April 24. But all Muslim votes went in favour of Naba Kumar Sarania alias Heera Sarania.”

Sarania, a reformed Ulfa militant, was supported by non-Bodos, who are opposed to the creation of Bodoland state as demanded by Bodo groups. The killings were a grim reminder of the widespread violence between Bodos and Bengali-speaking Muslims that led to the death of 105 people and displacement of 4,45,586 people from both communities in 2012.

The government requisitioned the Army which carried out flag marches in sensitive areas of Kokrajhar and Baksa districts. Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde spoke to Gogoi in the morning following which 10 additional companies of central paramilitary forces were ordered to move to the two districts.

Shinde was briefed by Gogoi about the attack by NDFB-Songbijit. The home ministry then directed security forces to take strong action against NDFB militants. Reinforcements were sent into the area to check violence to bolster 33 companies of CAPF already in the area. Ten more companies were deployed after the attack.

“We have directed the security forces to take strong action against the NDFB militants responsible for the killings. They are instigating people to indulge in riots. We will not allow this to happen,” said Shambhu Singh, joint secretary (Northeast) at MHA.

Assam DGP Khagen Sarma said, “We have enough forces in the Bodoland Territorial Areas District. Four additional companies of paramilitary forces have already reached there. We are expecting six more companies there.”

The Songbijit faction has refused to sit for talks with the Centre even as other groups of NDFB have laid down their weapons to join the peace process.

Intelligence sources said the Union home ministry had alerted Assam Police and other security agencies about the possibility of attacks by Bodo militants a few days ago. “The home ministry gave specific inputs about the Songbijit faction’s plans to target the minorities from Thursday evening,” they added.

On Monday, the Songbijit faction had warned of retaliation against the killing of three Bodo youths by police branding them its cadres in Tezpur in upper Assam on April 30. “So, we the revolutionaries, decided our tit-for-tat retaliation against both the governments of Assam and India as soon as possible for their mistake,” the outfit had said.