By TCN Staff Reporter,
New Delhi: Nazrul Islam has survived the bloody onslaught of Bodos last month in a village under Gosaigaon police station in Kokrajhar district of Assam. His and neighboring villages were burnt down by Bodos after the residents fled to save their lives.
“One day some Bodos came and called out a Muslim from his home on pretext of talking something, when he came out along with his wife, they shot at them and fled. He was Ayezul Haque. We called police they didn’t come, then we called army and they came and we rushed them to hospital in army van,” said Nazrul Islam.
Nazrul Islam at a relief camp in Kokrajhar district
The incident frightened Muslim villagers and they gathered in the market area. Meanwhile Bodos gathered and started burning our houses. There were 325 houses in my village with 1650 people, said Islam.
He alleges that local police and officers did not come to protect Muslims.
“They (Bodos) come in police uniform and army uniform with firearms, we are unarmed. All local MLA and MP are Bodo. They did not help us. We informed SP, SDPO and OC but none came up to protect us,” says Islam who is now in a relief camp in Kokrajhar town. Several thousand people are in the relief camp.
Riot victims at a relief camp in Kokrajhar town
The recent violence has made over four lakh people, mostly Muslims, homeless and they are in relief camps.