This Article is From May 05, 2014

Assam Violence: Victims Finally Buried; Curfew Relaxed

Assam Violence: Victims Finally Buried; Curfew Relaxed

Security personnel stand guard near family members of the victims of Assam violence at Khabragari in Baksa district

Guwahati: Curfew in the three violence-hit districts of Kokrajhar, Baksa and Chirang in Assam was relaxed on Monday morning. The death toll in the targeted killings rose to 31 on Sunday evening after two bodies were found floating in the Beki river near Narayanguri village in Baksa district. 30 people have been arrested in connection with the killing of local villagers by suspected militants of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Songbhijit faction) and five cases have been registered so far. No incident of violence has taken place in the last 63 hours in Baksa and Kokrajhar districts.

Here are the 10 latest developments

  1. The family members of those killed in the targeted attacks in Baksa district finally buried the bodies on Sunday night. The relatives agreed to perform the last rites of their family members after Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi sent a minister to talk to them. (Relatives of Baksa Victims Perform Last Rites)

  2. Media reports on Monday morning claimed that the state government was planning to arm the local villagers with licensed guns to help them defend themselves against such militant attacks.

  3. One of those arrested is a forest ranger in Manas National Park while some other forest guards are being interrogated. Several villagers said the attackers were forest guards who lived in a camp in the village and were well-known to them.

  4. The suspects arrested till now face charges of torching the villagers' homes and providing shelter to the militants. (After Violence, Faces of Fear in This Assam Village)

  5. Locals have claimed that the militants came to their villages on cycles, fired indiscriminately and set their huts on fire. Thousands have fled from their villagers; the state government is setting up temporary relief camps for them. (Assam: 31 Killed, Families Refuse to Bury the Dead)

  6. Nearly 4,000 paramilitary personnel and 1,500 Army soldiers have been deployed in the region, and another 1,000 are on their way, the union home ministry has said.

  7. The political blame game over the killings escalated on Sunday with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accusing the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi of inciting violence in the state. (Assam Violence Triggers Political War of Words)

  8. At a rally in Bengal on Sunday, Mr Modi said Bangladeshi infiltrators in Assam and Bengal, who were allowed into the country for 'vote-bank politics', would be sent back. ('What Has PM Done to Restore Law and Order in Assam', Asks BJP)

  9. The Bodo militants are allegedly targeted the local villagers because they failed to support their candidate in the ongoing Lok Sabha election.

  10. The region, which falls under the Bodoland Territorial Council, has witnessed frequent sectarian strife. In 2012, ethnic clashes in the same area had claimed nearly 100 lives and displaced more than 400,000 people.



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