Assam violence: 9 more bodies recovered, toll rises to 32 - Hindustan Times

Nine more bodies were recovered from a village in Baksa district on Saturday morning, taking the toll to 32 in the violence unleashed by NDFB-Songbijit militants in Bodoland Territorial Administration Districts (BTADC) area in Assam.

The bodies of the victims, including four children and two women, were recovered from Khagrabari village under Salbari sub-division adjacent to the Manas National Park, official sources said.

Bodies of two children were identified as Ilina Khatun and Ariful Islam. Three children, aged between seven and ten years, who were hiding in a forest on the banks of river Beki were also rescued, the sources said.

The alleged failure of migrant Muslims to vote for a tribal party candidate in Kokrajhar Lok Sabha constituency has led to loss of lives in western Assam's Baska and Kokrajhar districts since Thursday evening.

Kokrajhar is the headquarters of the ethnically volatile areas under Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), which is ruled by the Bodoland People's Front (BPF), a constituent of the Congress-led government in Assam.

Officials in the affected districts said on Friday that the attacks, presumably by Bodo tribal militants, has made Muslims and other minority groups flee their villages to safer locations. The administration in adjoining Dhubri district has opened up two relief camps, fearing a rerun of the 2012 communal clashes that took the lives of 108 people.

An umbrella group of 21 non-Bodo organisations has attributed the violence to BPF legislator Pramila Rani Brahma's view on April 30 that her party candidate (for Kokrajhar seat) and Assam minister Chandan Brahma could find it hard to win because Muslims did not vote for him. Violence had preceded polling in Kokrajhar on April 24.

Muslims are a major constituent of this group that fielded Naba Kumar alias Hira Sarania, a former United Liberation Front of Asom rebel, as an independent candidate in Kokrajhar. Non-Bodos including other tribes have never won this seat despite constituting two-thirds of the population.

"BPF chief Hagrama Mohilary is responsible for instigating his cadres to attack non-Bodo villagers, particularly Muslims, because his party has realised it could lose the Kokrajhar seat," Sarania said.

Mohilary refuted Sarania's claim, saying BPF was not responsible for the killings. "We urge the religious minorities not to flee their villages. We will provide them protection," he said.

Congress leader Abdul Khaleque has sought Pramila Rani's arrest for her 'incendiary' comment while All Assam Minority Students' Union Abdur Rahim said the BTC administration had planned the mayhem after the votes were cast.

The Assam police suspect the Sangbijit National Democratic Front of Boroland behind the attacks. "The assailants used automatic weapons and set several villages on fire," said AP Rout, ADG (law and order).

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who cancelled his trip to Germany following the violence, appealed for peace. "We will provide Rs. 3 lakh as ex-gratia for the next of kin of each victim while the centre will pitch in with another Rs. 3 lakh," he said.

Meanwhile, the centre has sought strong action against NDFB(S) for bloodshed and instigating people to indulge in riots. "We have rushed 10 additional companies of paramilitary forces to Assam and the army has been requested to remain on standby," said Shambhu Singh, joint secretary (Northeast) in the Union home ministry on Friday.

(With PTI inputs)