Tinsukia: Blockades and bandh calls over the killing of a small tea grower and his son by Ulfa (I) in Assam's Tinsukia district marked Tuesday.
Anteshwar Mahanta, 45, a booth-level BJP member and vice-president of the village defence party, and his son Karun, 23, former president of AASU's Kakopathar unit, were shot dead by Ulfa (I) militants in their house at Sunjan Simaluguri village on Monday night.
Residents and students' organisations from Sunjan Simaluguri and nearby areas blocked National Highway 52 to protest the killings. The blockade was lifted only when the bodies reached the spot, on the way to their native village, after post-mortem. Hundreds paid tribute to the departed souls at several places, including AASU's Kakopathar office, BJP's booth-level office at Dirak Sunjan and their residence. The bodies were cremated in the evening.
The All Moran Students' Union (Amsu) called a 24-hour Tinsukia district bandh on Wednesday while local markets in Sunjan Simaluguri, Kakopathar, Dirak Sunjan, Mahadevpur and other nearby areas remained closed for the day. The district administration paid a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family.
BJP state president Ranjeet Kumar Dass, Dibrugarh MP Rameshwar Teli and Sadiya MLA Bolin Chetia met the victims' family. "Violence is no solution," Dass said and called upon Ulfa (I) to come forward for peace talks.
Ulfa (I), however, defended the killings in a release, alleging that the Mahantas were working against the outfit at the behest of Assam police and the army. "We warned them thrice but they repeatedly used army presence and tried to tempt our family members with money to get our cadres to surrender," it stated.
The outfit said it has a zero-tolerance policy against persons who engage themselves against their "revolution for a sovereign country" and their background will not deter the force to punish them. "We clarify that we have never demanded money from Anteshwar Mahanta and call for proof from those making such allegations," the release stated.
Pro-talks Ulfa leader Anup Chetia urged the Paresh Barua-led anti-talks faction of the outfit to refrain from targeting indigenous people as it would bring a bad name to the outfit. "I spoke to Paresh over phone this morning and he told me that they had to take this extreme step (killing of the father-son duo) since they refused to pay heed to repeated warnings to desist from working against Ulfa (I)," Chetia said.
Reacting to the Ulfa (I) statement, Amsu central secretary Naba Moran said, "We do not buy what Ulfa (I) has said in the press release. It is a blatant lie."
The locals have sent a memorandum to chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, demanding punishment to the killers of Anteshwar and Karun, compensation of Rs 1 crore, lifetime care of every member of Anteshwar's family and foolproof security to the indigenous people of the region.
The PCC condemned the killings and blamed the Sonowal-led BJP government's policy on militants for innocent people being killed.
A high-level security review meeting, chaired by Tinsukia deputy commissioner, here in the morning discussed better co-ordination among security agencies operating in areas known for Ulfa (I) activities. A source said the meeting decided to intensify counter-insurgency operations.
Assam inspector-general of police R.P. Meena said, "We have taken stock of prevailing security scenario in the region and chalked out future strategy."
The meeting was also attended by superintendent of Tinsukia police Mugdha Jyoti Mahanta, army officers and intelligence agencies.
Additional reporting by Pankaj Sarma
