Guwahati, Aug 6 NNN: A semblance of normality has returned to Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) areas where violence erupted on Sunday after a brief lull. The indefinite curfew imposed in those areas continued on Monday.
On Sunday, fresh incidents of violence were reported from Chirang district with miscreants torching several houses. Four bodies were also recovered taking the total toll in the communal violence since to 75 since July 20.
The violence could not spread following prompt action from 104 fixed police pickets in Kokrajhar and Chirang districts. These pickets had been deployed to ensure the safe return of the relief camp inmates to their respective villages.
“Indefinite curfew imposed on Sunday after fresh incidents of violence has been persisted with on Monday to offset more trouble. There have been no reports of arson or killing in the last 24 hours,” said Assam Police inspector general (law and order) LR Vishnoi.
On Monday, chief minister Tarun Gogoi also reviewed the relief and rehabilitation measures in the violence-hit areas of western Assam. “All our energies should be channelized towards providing succour to the displaced people on a war footing,” he said. He also passed on instructions for the deputy commissioners of the affected districts to decongest the existing relief camps by opening new ones to prevent outbreak of diseases.
Further, the chief minister instructed the public health engineering department to ensure one latrine per 100 relief camp inmates and one water pump for every 250 in order to ensure hygienic conditions. Health officials were also instructed to set up separate camps for pregnant and lactating women and children.
Monday also saw a four-minister team visiting the trouble-torn BTC areas besides Dhubri district to take stock of the situation and assess the conditions of the relief camps.
It can be noted that on August 1, intelligence officials had accused that a new Muslim based militant outfit called United Muslim National Army (UMNA) was suspected to be behind the ethnic clashes between the Bodos and the Muslims in Assam’s Kokrajhar district.
This new Muslim militant outfit has been floated in Assam with its agenda to have a separate administrative area for the Muslims in Assam consisting of 13 districts with four in Bodo Territorial Council (BTC), a well placed source informed Newmai News Network in Guwahati recently.
Meanwhile, over 75 people have been killed and nearly 5 lakh people are affected by the clashes in western Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/normalcy-restored-at-assam/