Rangia, Nov. 3: The army today said the Bhimajuli massacre could have been averted if police had kept them informed about the National Democratic Front of Boroland’s activities, particularly extortion bids in the area.

“Had the police shared the information with us, the Bhimajuli incident could have been avoided,” Maj. Gen. R.S. Chand, who is officiating as GOC of the Tezpur-based 4 Corps, said.

“I am not pointing a finger at anyone but in hindsight, I think better intelligence sharing between the police and the army could have averted the massacre,” he quickly added.

Over a dozen villagers were gunned down by the Ranjan Daimary faction of the NDFB at Bhimajuli in Sonitpur last month.

Sources said the NDFB carried out the attack because the villagers had defied its diktat to pay up.

Emphasising the need for better information sharing between the police and the army, he said the police had a direct interface with the public. “Whenever the people face any threat, they first come to the police,” he said.

“I am not saying that intelligence-sharing in not happening, as a lot of joint operations are being conducted by the army and police. But more can be done to achieve the desired level,” Chand said in his concluding remarks at a seminar on counter-terrorism operations by the army’s 21 Mountain Division at Rangia.

He said vested interests were keeping insurgency alive.

“So much of effort and energy in terms of money is getting sucked in combating terrorism, which could be spent elsewhere,” the officer said.

On illegal migration changing the demographic pattern of the state, he said vote bank politics is preventing a tangible process from taking shape.

The officer also stressed the need for security forces to continuously introspect and refine their drills and procedures keeping in mind the changing scenario as the backdrop.

Maj. Gen. S.S. Jog, GOC 21 Mountain Division, also highlighted the adverse effects of insurgency and the action taken by the army to restore normality in Assam and the Northeast.