Dimapur:
There is no end to tension on the Assam-Nagaland border with many areas, especially those on the Assam side, are either under curfew or under prohibitory orders following clashes between the Karbi and the Rengma Naga communities since the last week of December that has seen more than 16 deaths so far.
Of the nine decomposed bodies found at a spot deep in the jungles 25 kilometres from Nagaland's Dimapur town on Friday night, eight have been identified to be those of daily wage labourers while one person was a local student union leader in Assam's Karbi Anglong district.
All of them belong to the Karbi community, believed to have been targeted in Nagaland in retaliation to the killing of Naga Rengma tribals by a Karbi militant outfit in Assam's Karbi Anglong district in the last week of December.
The situation on the Assam-Nagaland border has acquired tones of an ethnic conflict between these two communities. So far, no militant organisation, of the many active in this region, has taken responsibility for the Nagaland killings
One of the 9 people killed in Nagaland is 21-year-old Harlongbi Engti , who had gone to Dimapur on December 28 for shopping from his native village in Karbi Anglong . Harlongbi was a member of the Karbi Students Association.
Harlongbi's elder brother Samson Engti told NDTV, "There was no trace of him for a few days. We filed a missing persons report and identified him by his clothes. I believe this is a retaliatory killing."
Both the Nagaland and the Assam Police have still not managed to pinpoint the exact cause for the conflict between these two communities.
The Karbis and the Rengma Nagas were among the first settlers in the region, and these hasn't been any history of violence among the two communities.
Police sources say the first hint of trouble began in June last year, with isolated incidents of violence reported from the Assam side.
Dimapur Superintendent of police VZ Angami says, "We have increased security substantially in the Karbi areas in Dimapur because a lot of Karbis live here in Dimapur too."
The Assam and Nagaland governments have ordered inquiries, and a night curfew is on in many parts on the Assam side of the border.