| Violence at Kokrajhar continues: Toll rises to 19, Rajdhani Express stopped |
| Posted on 23-07-2012 | 13:30:57 IST | DY365 Bureau |
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Kokrajhar (Assam): The ethnic clashes in South Assam have now claimed 19 lives. Two more bodies were recovered today in the violence in Assam's Bodoland Territorial Administered Districts (BTAD).The bodies were recovered from the banks of river Gouranga this morning, officials said.A mob of 100 people, meanwhile, stopped Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express. The train was stopped at Pratapkhat between Gosaigaon and Kokrajhar by people from nearby villages who alleged that their houses were damaged by miscreants when they moved to relief camps, IGP (BTAD) S N Singh said. All passengers are reported to be safe but tracks are still blocked.Trains were controlled at different points as a result. An additional nine companies of paramilitary forces were deployed in the district while the army was assisting in maintaining law and order, Mr Singh said.In Golokgunj and Gauripur in Dhubri district, police personnel fired in the air when the bandh supporters tried to forcibly close down shops during a 12-hour bandh, called by the All Assam Minority Students' Union (AAMSU) to protest attacks on the minorities in BTAD districts, Superintendent of Police Pradip Saloi said.Bandh supporters also ransacked the office of Bodoland Peoples' Front in Gauripur town.The AAMSU subsequently withdrew the bandh following an appeal by ministers.Meanwhile, Assam Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Nazrul Islam reached Kokrajhar and appealed to people to maintain peace and calm and not heed to rumours.Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) President Bhubaneswar Kalita urged the state government to take measures to curb the violence and directed party workers to form peace committees and take out peace rallies.A five-member committee of the APCC left for Kokrajhar and Chirang districts to assess the situation and help in restoring peace.The violence was triggered with the firing on two student leaders who were critically injured - Mohibul Islam of All Bodoland Minority Students' Union (ABMSU) and Abdul Siddique Sheikh of All Assam Minority Students' Union (AAMSU) in Kokrajhar.In a retaliatory attack, four former Bodo Liberation Tigers cadres were killed on Friday night in the district and this led to further attacks and counter-attacks resulting in the deaths. |
