Jan. 11: Nearly 3,000 people belonging to the Rabha and Garo communities were today shifted to their respective villages in Goalpara and East Garo Hills districts from the relief camps by the army and CRPF jawans.

Nearly 1,500 Garo people from Bajendoba and Mendipathar relief camps were brought to Goalpara and almost as many Rabhas from Kukurkata and Hatigaon relief camp of Goalpara district were shifted to East Garo Hills district by transportation provided by the army.

An army source in Goalpara said the main task before the army now is to rehabilitate the displaced people of both communities and instil confidence among them.

“We are basically providing transportation and security to their lives and property by keeping round-the-clock vigil in the affected villages where they were being rehabilitated,” the source said.

The superintendent of police, Goalpara, Luish Aind, said there was an improvement in situation as no incident of violence and arson had taken place in the district since last night.

“Altogther 154 persons of Rabha and Garo communities, suspected to have been involved in torching of houses, had been picked up from various places of Goalpara district since last night; they are being interrogated in different police station of the district,” he said.

A senior official of Goalpara district administration said that rehabilitation of the displaced people was the first and foremost job as the festive season of Bohag Bihu would begin after two days.

“We are trying to shift the maximum number of displaced people to their respective villages within two days so that they find solace in being able to return to their native villages,” he said.

Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma today ruled out involvement of militant groups of the state in the ethnic clashes and iterated his demand for a commission of inquiry to probe the violence.

“We do not have any report to indicate the involvement of militant outfits from Meghalaya in the ethnic violence,” Sangma told reporters.

He, however, said the government was trying to verify reports that suggested that militant groups were also involved in the clashes. “Under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, a panel should be constituted by the Centre to probe the ethnic clashes,” he added.

Asked whether the probe panel should be constituted now or after the Assam elections, Sangma said: “There is no harm in doing it now as justice delayed is justice denied.”

The chief minister said till this afternoon, the number of Garos from Assam who had come to take shelter in the Meghalaya relief camps stood at 19,002.

“We have been given the impression that the Garos from Goalpara district feel safer in the relief camps set up by the East Garo Hills district administration,” Sangma said, adding that 18 relief camps had been established.

Twenty-six villages in Garo hills were affected in the clash, he said, adding that while 1,500 houses were torched, four people had died and seven were seriously injured.

The police have also arrested 103 people while 25 cases were registered.

Sangma said the government had decided to sanction Rs 10,000 to each of the affected families of Meghalaya while another three bundles of corrugated galvanised sheets would be provided to those who have lost their houses. Sangma said an ex gratia of Rs 3 lakh would be provided to the next of kin of the deceased. The government would take care of those who are undergoing treatment. He also urged civil society to come forward with donations for the chief minister’s relief fund for the rehabilitation of the victims.

On the high-level meeting convened by the Union ministry of home affairs in Guwahati today, Sangma said both Assam and Meghalaya had arrived at certain decisions to ensure that there was no escalation of violence.

Synchronisation of efforts between the two states and increasing the presence of security forces were the other decisions made at the meeting, he added.

“This morning, around 300 Garos who had taken shelter at Takur Villa in Bajengdoba returned to Assam and more are willing to return,” the commissioner of divisions of East, South and West Garo Hills, P.W. Ingty, said.

An official with the East Garo Hills district administration said depending on the situation, the indefinite curfew at Resubelpara and Mendipathar was likely to be relaxed tomorrow.

The director-general of police, Meghalaya, S.B. Kakati, and state principal secretary, home, C.D. Kynjing, visited the affected areas of Mendipathar and asked security personnel to keep round-the-clock vigil.

In Jorhat, the Asam Sahitya Sabha has urged the governments of the two states to take immediate steps to defuse the crisis along the border.

Sabha president Rong Bong Terang told reporters today that the sabha, in separate memoranda to Assam and Meghalaya governors, had urged them to take “strong steps” to restore peace along the inter-state border and provide relief and rehabilitation to the affected people of both the communities. He said the sabha had also urged the Rabha and Garo Sahitya Sabhas to come forward and help restore normality in the violence-hit areas.