The Army was called out and an indefinite curfew clamped in Kokrajhar district as the Bodo heartland slipped into a state of lawlessness. One more person was shot dead and another seriously injured after being stabbed at a market. The new violence has so far claimed six lives.
In the first round of violence between Bodo combatants and Bengali-speaking Muslim residents in July and August, 99 people were killed and over 4.5 lakh people displaced.
On Thursday morning, an unidentified assailant shot dead Nirsan Basumatary, a Bodo businessman, at Gossaigaon in Kokrajhar district, while a vegetable seller was stabbed at a market in Kokrajhar. The injured, identified as Abul Kalam, was critical in a hospital. On Tuesday, a woman was killed while a school teacher was shot dead in Kokrajhar district on Wednesday.
As the violence continued for the sixth day on Thursday, the Centre directed the state government to impose an indefinite curfew and later called out the Army under counter-insurgency deployment, a source said. In the clashes in July, the Army was partially taken out of counter-insurgency operations and deployed in Bodo areas under law and order control duty.
“Five columns of Army have been moved to Kokrajhar district under counter-insurgency grid on Thursday afternoon. The basic objective is area domination and to instill confidence among people,” said defence spokesman Lt-Col S S Phogat.
The fresh violence has been linked to the rise in tension after the rehabilitation of displaced Bengali-speaking Muslims in these districts. “This is harvesting time and people have returned to their homes from relief camps with this objective,” a source added.
Over 4.5 lakh people belonging to both Bengalispeaking Muslim and Bodo communities were displaced during the riots. After almost three months since the first batch of displaced people were taken to relief camps, there are still over 39,000 people awaiting rehabilitation in relief camps.
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