Kokrajhar:
As the situation in Assam continues to remain tense owing to the communal violence, three more bodies were recovered today, taking the death toll to 18.
More than 25,000 people have been rendered homeless and several others are missing following clashes between two communities in Kokrajhar district of Lower Assam on July 19. There is no official word on what triggered the violence but dispute over land may have been one of the reasons.
Two of the bodies were recovered near the railway bridge near the banks of Gouranga river this morning, police said. The other body was found in Kathalbari.
A large mob, comprising around 1,000 protestors, today stopped the New Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express at Pratapkhat between Kokrajhar and Gossaigaon. The train was later allowed to leave only for the agitators to return by late afternoon and block the railway tracks again. Rail traffic has been severely affected with several train schedules suspended till further notice.
The violence has slowly spread from Kokrajhar down to Chirang with reports of arson filtering in from these districts. Additional security forces have been deployed across the disturbed areas. Night curfew has been clamped at several places. The police has also issued shoot-at-sight orders in Kokrajhar.
The epicentre of the clashes, Kokrajhar, falls under the Bodoland Territorial Administered Districts (BTAD). So even though the Home Department of the state government is responsible for law and order, it is the autonomous district authorities who control the situation on the ground.
Security forces, meanwhile, are still awaiting instructions from the government and this delay is further aggravating the situation.
Assam has had had a history of ethnic clashes with the worst being witnessed in the nineties in Lower Assam and the North Bank of Brahmaputra that saw more than two lakh people from all communities being displaced. While some have returned to their homes, others are still languishing in relief camps.
In 2008, violence erupted again, with inter-community clashes claiming lives and destroying property.