Guwahati, October 5
The Army was called out today in Bishwanath Chariali subdivision in Sonitpur district of Assam where situation turned for the worse with angry mobs taking to the street in protest against last night’s killing of innocent villagers by banned National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militants at Bhimajuli village under Balichang police outpost near Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary.
Meanwhile, the death toll of the dastardly massacre went up to 12 with the death of one eight-year-old girl Raju Pradhan while he was being shifted to Guwahati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) here today. Dr R Talukdar of the GMCH said the girl was declared brought dead. Six more injured were being treated.
State Principal Secretary of Home Department SC Das said the Army had been called out to help the police to restore public confidence and normalcy as tension was running high in the area. He said angry villagers torched a few abandoned houses of Bodo tribe community today.
Opposition AGP legislator Padma Hazarika accused the government of inaction even though it had been informed that the anti-talks faction of the NDFB had been threatening the villagers through rampant extortion demands. “The NDFB has been running a parallel government along Assam-Arunachal boundary in Sonitpur district and we informed chief minister Tarun Gogoi about it”, he said.
The police had to resort to firing in the air to safeguard DGP Sankar Baruah and four cabinet ministers - Dr Bhumidhar Barman, Dr Himanta Bishwa Sharma, Bharat Narah and Nurjamal Sarkar - when a mob attacked the escort vehicle of their convoy when they were approaching the violence-affected village. The ministers and the DGP had to rush back to Balichang police outpost.
Agitated people burnt down the vehicle of a Circle Officer besides trying to attack the police station at Balichang.
