Guwahati/ Kokrajhar, December 23: Marauding Bodo rebels went on a killing spree on Tuesday evening, gunning down over 34 people, including women and children in Sonitpur and Kokrajhar districts.
The victims were mostly Adivashi villagers.
The attacks were reported from four places in Sonitpur and Kokrajhar districts.
Groups of the NDFB(S) swooped on remote villages and opened indiscriminate firing, killing some of the villagers from point blank range.
Sonitpur superintendent of police Sanjukta Parasar told The Sentinel that the toll in the district could cross 26. “We have received reports of at least six casualties in Dhekiajuli and twenty in Biswanath Chariali,” she said.
One attack was reported from Maitalu Basti under Jingia police station of Sonitpur district. The other attack in the district was reported from Batasipur in Dhekiajuli.
At least two such strikes were reported from Kokrajhar – one from Pakreguri village under Serfanguri police station and another from Ultapani under Kokrajhar police station.
Kokrajhar additional superintendent of police Surjeet Singh Paneswar said four people have been killed at Serfanguri and as many injured. “We are getting information about more such attacks in different places. Police teams have been sent to those places. Most of the places are remote,” he said.
Singh said the militants fired from automatic AK rifles.
Four bodies and some of the injured were brought to RNB Hospital in Kokrajhar.
Unconfirmed reports said that the death toll in Ultapani could be more than four.
Survivors said the Bodo rebels were in army fatigues. “Some of them even entered the houses and opened fire, killing the occupants, including infants,” one of them said.
The attacks began from 5.30 in the evening.
“The toll could be between 30 to 40. There are a lot of rumours. But we have to go by the number of recovered bodies. In four places, the casualty is between 30–40. The NDFB(S) has chosen the Adivashis as a soft target,” DGP Khagen Sarma told The Sentinel. The State government has closed down the Manas National Park for three days in view of the violence.
The NDFB(S) had on Monday triggered a grenade blast in Patgaon in Kokrajhar district, injuring three people.
Security sources said the Bodo outfit has resorted to the violence in the wake of intensified operations against it. “Every time there is an all–out operation against the outfit, it tends to strike in a bid to divert the attention. This time they have chosen Adivashis as their target,” they said.
A joint team of Assam Police commandos and the army had on Sunday killed two top Bodo militants in neighbouring Chirang district, close to the Bhutan border.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had earlier in the day said his government will not bow down to any militant threat.
“It is an act of cowardice. It makes no sense in killing innocent people. I have directed the police to take stern action,” Gogoi said after the attacks late in the evening.
(The Sentinel, 25-12-2014)
