Cops in NB on alert after Assam carnage

SNS, Siliguri, 2 May 2014: Police along the Bengal-Assam border in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts have been alerted after a group of 20 National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militants armed with AK-47 rifles unleashed violence in two separate places under the Bodoland Territorial Administration District (BTAD) in Assam, killing at least 11 minority people, including three children and women, last night.

“Upon receiving the information on the tragic incident, we alerted police stations along the Bengal-Assam border in north Bengal last night and have asked them to keep a close watch on some vulnerable areas,” the inspector general of police in north Bengal, Jawed Shamim, said.

“We decided to alert the police because the NDFB is linked with the Kamtapuri Liberation Organization (KLO) and its linkmen in this region. NDFB militants used to take shelter in Bengal with help from the KLO,” he said, adding, “Police have been asked to keep a close watch on sensitive areas where Bodo people as well as people belonging to the minority community live so that we can trace the militants in hideouts and if the victims take refuge here.”

Talking to The Statesman, Mr Shamim said: “The situation in north Bengal and the KLO menace is under control here after the arrest of top KLO guns. We are now trying to nab a few KLO militants (five to seven) who are operating in Assam.”

Sources said five to seven KLO militants are in Assam and the Bengal police are tracking them in association with the Assam police. Last night, the NDFB militants attacked three houses at Balapara village in Kokrajhar district and fired on them indiscriminately, killing seven persons on the spot. Another person died at Dhubri hospital in Assam later.

The insurgent group attacked other minority families at Narsinghabari in the nearby Buxa district early today. Three persons died there and another girl, identified as Taslima, was struggling for her life in hospital.

Various organizations including the All Minority Students’ Union (AMSU) and the All Bodo Minority Students Union, condemned the killings.

As Jalpaiguri SP Kunal Agarwal described the incident as an ‘ethnic’ clash, sources said the NDFB militants attacked the common people, speculating that a candidate belonging to their community may win the Lok Sabha seat from this area.