By IANS,
Guwahati : Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi Wednesday directed state authorities to deal with the latest spurt in violence in Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts (BTAD) region with tough action, where earlier in the year over 100 people were killed in Bodo-Muslim clashes.
The chief minister asked the state Director General of Police (DGP) and top police officials to sternly deal with the situation during a law and order meeting at his residence, where the latest violence in Bodoland areas figured prominently.
“Vigil should be stepped up to foil the sinister designs of these forces,” Gogoi said, and appealed to the people to remain alert to nip in the bud the nefarious designs of these forces and to maintain peace and harmony at any cost.
Suspected cadres of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland’s (NDFB) faction opposed to peace talks unleashed violence at two locations in Kokrajhar late Tuesday night, killing one and injuring three others.
Kokrajhar district, along with neighbouring Baksa and Dhubri, witnessed violence between Bodos and Bengali-speaking Muslims earlier this year that led to the killing of over 100 people and displaced over four lakh people.
Gogoi has also asked the officials to take the help of the army and para-military forces to bring the situation under control in the Bodoland inhabited districts, if required.
Kokrajhar,Udalguri, Baksa and Chirang districts comprise the BTAD – run by an elected autonomous council.
Tuesday afternoon, suspected cadres of the NDFB faction also killed a tea planter at Nagada near Sootea in Assam’s Sonitpur district and injured his security personnel.
The chief minister has already ordered an inquiry into the killing of the tea planter and said that the government would spare no effort to catch those behind tea planter Adilur Rahman’s killing.
The Chief Minister’s Office Wednesday said during the meeting, Gogoi also pointed out that the latest violence is the handiwork of certain forces who wnt to foment disturbances in the Bodoland areas, which were returning to normal.
Meanwhile, the inspector general of police of BTAD said the situation is under control now in the region and that all security forces have been put on alert following the incident late Tuesday night.
“We are also deploying additional forces in Kokrajhar and other areas of the BTAD to stop recurrence of similar incidents of violence,” he said.
Over 30,000 people, who were displaced during the violence earlier this year, are still living in relief camps awaiting rehabilitation.