Guwahati, October 4
Tension continued to engulf parts of Udalguri and Darrang districts of north
Assam today even as communal violence that erupted last morning has so far
claimed seven lives.

The administration has issued a ‘shoot-on-sight’ order in the area now under heavy deployment of paramilitary and the Army.

The curfew that was clamped last night after the outbreak of communal clashes, continued today. Assam Police spokesman and IG, law and order, Bhakar Jyoti Majhanta confirmed seven deaths in the communal flare up.

There were reports of fresh violence from new areas even as a large number of Bodo tribesmen were fleeing villages fearing attacks.

The clash started when a group of Muslims reportedly attacked some Bodo tribesmen of a village defence party (VDP) with arrows and other sharp weapons at Mohanpur in Udalguri district early last morning.

The state government has suspended Udalguri district superintendent of police (SP) Bijoygiri Kuligam and transferred deputy commissioner George Basumatary in the wake of communal flare up. Manoj Agarwal has joined as the new SP in the communally volatile district.

The death toll in the violence rose to seven with the recovery of four more bodies in the worst-affected Rowta area in Udalguri district today.

Three other persons were killed yesterday, while several people were injured. Many of the injured were shifted to the Medical College Hospital here.

The police informed that the situation remained tense with members of both
communities, armed with lethal weapons, on the look out to strike each other
at the first opportunity.

An SP-level police officer, Abu Sufian, has been entrusted with law and order in the Rowta area of the district after the entire Rowta market, from where four bodies were recovered, and a neighbouring village were burnt down last night.

Even as the state capital city is limping back to normalcy after being rattled by
a series of explosions on Wednesday night, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar
has termed it a “part of the design to destabilise not only Tripura but also the
entire country”.

Talking to The Tribune at his office here, Sarkar said, “The serial blasts in Agartala
cannot be and shouldn’t be treated in isolation. It is part of a broader design to
destabilise the country. At this moment investigation is on and Central agencies
have come and are working in tandem with our own investigating team to find
answers to many a question that have been raised in the wake of first ever
serial blasts in the state.”

Regarding possible political motive behind the blasts, the senior CPM leader said, “Extremists do have their political agenda. This sort of thing (blasts) can’t be isolated from politics. The timing of the blasts was also significant as it happened just after the ruling Left Front government swept 94 per cent seats in panchayat level byelection in the state.”

However, he said Left Front government was not rushing to a conclusion about the identity of the perpetrators of serial terror pending completion of the investigation.

“The security apparatus in the state is accustomed to tackle terror given the old history of insurgency in the bordering state, but this is a new kind of terror that has struck the state. We are still wondering why Agartala has been picked for the strike of all the places in the country,” Sarkar said.

He confirmed that there were a large number of camps of tribal militant outfits from the state across the border in Bangladesh territory.

The banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) were still active in the state though with depleted strength because of constant pressure from security forces.

About Tripura becoming a terror corridor for fundamentalist outfits from Bangladesh, Sarkar said, “The government doesn’t have sufficient evidence to firmly believe it. However, Tripura being a bordering state, the infiltration of Bangladeshis linked to terror is not new. However, the cross border movements of militants have significantly come down after raising the fence along about 700 km of the total 856 km long border.”

He lauded the people of Tripura for showing resilience in the wake of serial blasts saying “our people are very seasoned and politically very sound. They will not panic. They braved such situation earlier.”