Five members of the Bengali community were allegedly killed by ULFA terrorists in Assam's Tinsukia.
A delegation of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders arrived in Tinsukia district in Assam earlier today where five men were killed by suspected United Liberation Front of Assam or ULFA terrorists. The delegation, led by TMC lawmaker Derek O' Brien, met the bereaved families of those who were killed. Five members of the Bengali community, including two of a family, were allegedly killed by the ULFA's Paresh Baruah faction on the banks of the Lohit river at Dhola in Tinsukia district on Thursday evening. However, the group has denied its involvement in the incident.
Here are the live updates on Trinamool Congress' team visit to Assam over the Tinsukia killing:
Assam government today handed over cheques of Rs 5 lakh as compensation to families of each of the five persons, three days after they were killed by unidentified gunmen in the district.
A delegation comprising family members of the victims in Assam and Trinamool Congress leaders will meet the President of India. The Mamata Banerjee-led party today said on Twitter that an appointment with Mr Kovind has been sought.
A recap of the killings in Tinsukia:
On Thursday, five members of the Bengali community, including two of a family, were killed allegedly by the United Liberation Front of Assam's Paresh Baruah faction (ULFA-I) on the banks of the Lohit river. The terrorists were in battle fatigues and had randomly picked five people at gunpoint from Kherbari Bisonibari area.
The outfit, however, has denied its involvement in the incident.
The deceased were identified as Ananta Namasudra, Abinash Namasudra, Subal Das, Dhanai Namasudra and Syamal Biswas from the Bengali community.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday described the killing of five people in Tinsukia district as "an act of cowardice" and announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of each of the deceased and a government job for a family member.
A team of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders today met the families of those massacred by suspected terrorists in Assam's Tinsukia district. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has expressed anguish over the killings and said an "environment of violence" was prevailing in the country. The party has announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh each for the families of the victims.
In Guwahati, Assam finance minister and BJP's key strategist for northeast, Himanta Biswa Sarma, said the Assam government has taken the TMC delegation's visit positively since any political party has the right to visit terror attack victims. Mr Sarma said it's time for Mamata Banerjee to actually help the BJP find a solution to the citizenship amendment bill.
TMC leader Derek O'Brien termed his meeting today with the families of the victims killed in Assam's Tinsukia as one of the "saddest days" of his public life. "Heart wrenching Sunday morning," he took to Twitter today.
The TMC delegation has left Kherbari village in Tinsukia and will fly to Kolkata shortly. The delegation led by Derek O'Brien assured the families of the victims of all help and promised that Mamata Banerjee's party would stand by Bengalis in Assam. The party also promised to raise the killing of the five people and the alleged atrocities against Bengalis in Assam in parliament. The TMC delegation, however, held no public address.
The TMC delegation has also given out Rs 1 lakh each as compensation to the families of the five people allegedly killed by ULFA terrorists, reports news agency ANI.
The Trinamool Congress delegation meets the bereaved families in Tinsukia.
Speaking to the media outside the airport in Dibrugarh, TMC leader Derek O'Brien said, "This is a humanitarian visit. This is a visit to stand with the grieving families. We hope to reach Tinsukia in about two hours and spend some time with the families." Strongly condemning the shooting of the five Bengalis in Tinsukia, news agency PTI quoted Mr O'Brien, "What has happened is a dastardly killing of the most deprived and poorest Indian citizens... They have been murdered in cold blood."
The four member Trinamool delegation has reached Kherbari village in Assam's Tinsukia district to meet the families of the victims who were shot allegedly by ULFA terrorists on Thursday.
Visuals of Dibrugarh Airport in Assam where the TMC delegation led by Derek O' Brien
arrived earlier today to go to Tinsukia district.
The four member Trinamool delegation is now on the road from Dibrugarh Airport to Tinsukia in Assam to meet the families of the victims shot allegedly by ULFA terrorists. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has sent a team of party leaders, including Derek O' Brien, Mamata Bala Thakur, Nadimul Haq and Mahua Moitra to Tinsukia to express solidarity with aggrieved families.
The TMC delegation has just landed at Assam's Dibrugarh Airport.
Assam's Tinsukia witnessed a day-long shutdown yesterday to protest the killing of the five people. It was successful in the Barak Valley region, parts of lower Assam and certain pockets of the Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts. The
"dawn-to-dusk" shutdown was called by several influential groups, including the All Assam Bengali Youth Students Federation. While it did not impact Guwahati, life was affected in many pockets of upper Assam, lower Assam and hill districts of the state. Barak Valley, which is dominated by Bengali Hindus, came to a complete standstill.
The TMC delegation that will visit Tinsukia today comprises the party's Lok Sabha MP Mamata Bala Thakur, Rajya Sabha MP Nadimul Haq and MLA Mahua Moitra. The delegation, headed by Derek O' Brien, will go to Assam's Dibrugarh from where they will head to Tinsukia.
Even as the TMC delegation is set to visit Tinsukia, it remains to be seen how successful their move would be. Six lawmakers of the TMC had visited Assam's Silchar on August 2 in the wake of the publication of the complete draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) on July 30. The TMC delegation, however, was
stopped at the airport and not allowed to leave. They were sent back to Kolkata the next day. Police sources in Assam, however, have informed that this time, the TMC delegation will be allowed to come out of the airport and meet the victim families but under heavy security presence.