Assam: 6 killed, 10 injured in violence; curfew clamped

Six persons have been killed and 10 others injured in separate incidents of clashes in Kokrajhar district under Bodoland Territorial Council of Assam forcing the administration to impose indefinite curfew in Kokrajhar town and Section 144 CrPC in the entire district.

A senior police official informed that additional nine companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in sensitive areas of the district as the tension ran high in the area following clashes including five companies in Kokrajhar town. He said the situation was brought under control.

The series on violent clashes were stoked by an incident on Thursday evening when unidentified miscreants fired upon two minority leaders at Magurmari under Kokrajhar police station. Founder president of All Bodoland Minority Students' Union Mohibul Islam and former leader of All Assam Minority Students' Union, Abdul Siddique Sheikh were seriously injured in the attack.

They were later referred to Guwahati Medical College Hospital in Guwahati.

In a retaliatory attack, four former terrorists of now disbanded Bodoland Liberation Tiger – Pradip Bodo, 32, Jonson Bodo, 36, Nip Goyari, 25 and Jamin Goyari, 24 -- were lynched to death by a mob of people at Joypur under Kokrajhar police station on Friday night.

Two motor-cycles belonging to the former BLT men were burnt by the mob. The incident sparked retaliatory attack in several parts of the district in the wee hours on Saturday.

Two persons were killed and four others were injured when armed miscreants opened indiscriminate fire in two minority villages at Duramara, Narabari under Kokrajhar Police Station. Four persons were injured in a similar attack at Kodalloa village under Fakiragram police Station.

Meanwhile, four of the injured in group clashes have been rushed to Guwahati Medical College Hospital here while rest are being treated in the civil hospital in Kokrajhar.

The Assam government has announced Rs 2 lakh compensation to next of kin of all those have been killed in the latest spell of violence in Kokrajhar. The injured will be provided Rs 50,000 each.

The BLT is a former Bodo militant group that signed Bodo peace Accord with Central government in February 2003. The group was disbanded after the Accord was signed and the leaders floated a political party called Bodoland People's Front which is the only ally of ruling Congress in Assam.

The BPF is now ruling the BTC which was constituted under amended Sixth Schedule as per the Bodo Peace Accord.