Guwahati, Nov. 1 :    Guwahati, Nov. 1:  Heads continued to roll over last week's Nalbari massacre as the Assam government today removed director-general of police P.V. Sumant and appointed Hare Krishna Deka as the new police chief. Deka, a Sahitya Akademi award-winning poet and an IPS officer of the 1968 batch, was hitherto the additional director-general of police (special branch). Sumant's removal from the 'hot seat', a move perceived as having political undertones, came on a day when the state spontaneously observed a 12-hour bandh in protest against the killings. The bandh was called by the Asom Yuba Parishad, the youth wing of the ruling Asom Gana Parishad. A silent procession was also taken out in Nalbari town. Sumant's new assignment will be as chairman-cum-managing director of the obscure Assam Police Housing Corporation. He is apparently being 'punished' for failing to arrest the spurt in mass killings by militants. No less than 30 people, including 5 policemen, have been killed in the fresh bout of violence in the state. The killings are believed to have been orchestrated by the proscribed Ulfa. Apart from relieving Sumant of the DGP's post, the government - facing a barrage of criticism for failing to rein in the militants - has decided to replace the Nalbari deputy commissioner and the superintendent of police. The official notification is expected to be issued in a day or two. Sources said the decision to replace Sumant was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Mahanta before he left for the United States on Monday. The government's knee-jerk reaction to the Nalbari incident has raised eyebrows as it did not take similar steps against the deputy commissioners and superintendents of police of Tinsukia and Dibrugarh after the recent massacre of 15 people, 11 of them from the Bihari community. Political factors came into play as the AGP found itself in a tight corner after the Nalbari killings. Apart from the Lower Assam town being an AGP stronghold, what hastened Sumant's removal is the fact that the community to which 10 of the Nalbari victims belonged is a major contributor to the ruling party's coffers. Immediately after taking charge, Sumant's successor talked tough, saying he would use all the resources at his command to end violence in the state. He said there was a 'pattern' to the recent killings, something that indicated the ISI's involvement. Deka also claimed that though the Ulfa leadership had earlier 'rejected' the ISI's strategy to carry out massacres, the outfit may have finally adopted it 'just to make its presence felt'.