By IANS,
New Delhi: Expressing grief over the killing of 24 people in Assam by an tribal separatists, the Bharatiya Janata Party Wednesday blamed the Congress-led Assam government for not being alert.
Talking to reporters here, party leader S.S. Ahluwalia said that the Assam government had been careless despite alerts issued by intelligence and security agencies.
“At a time when US President Barack Obama was in India and the attention of the world media was on us, intelligence agencies had warned that they (separatists) may do something to attract attention, but the government in Assam was not alert,” Ahluwalia said.
“The prime minister (Manmohan Singh) is a Rajya Sabha MP from Assam, the state has a Congress government… but despite the warning they (government) were not alert,” he said.
Militants from the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) have so far killed 24 people, mostly Hindi-speaking people and minorities for the third straight day.
A massive anti-insurgency operation was launched since Monday with army, police and paramilitary troopers conducting raids in NDFB-affected areas in northern and western Assam.
“Army, police and paramilitary forces are conducting specific operations in NDFB pockets,” Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told IANS.