Doomdooma/Dibrugarh, Aug. 13: Protests and blockades rocked several parts of Tinsukia district in Upper Assam following the death of a man and his son in firing by suspected Ulfa (Independent) militants last night.
Apart from the victims Kishori Shah, 65, and his son Rajesh, 32, five persons were injured in the attack at Number 11 Phillobari Bamungaon, carried out by five gunmen who fired “indiscriminately” on Shah’s house, where a puja was being conducted, and some adjoining houses before fleeing.
The injured, admitted to Assam Medical College and Hospital in Dibrugarh, are Arvind Shah, Ranjit Shah, Awdesh Shah, Jitendra Chouhan and Pratima Devi.
The village is 12km from Doomdooma and 526km from Guwahati.
Local residents and protesters blocked the roads in several places this morning and again at Doomdooma when family members were taking the victims’ bodies back around 5pm. Traffic remained disrupted for most part of the day.
A 24-hour Doomdooma bandh called by the Bhojpuri Yuba Chatra Parishad also affected life.
Residents said they would not allow the bodies to be taken home till chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal or his ministerial colleagues came and listened to their grievances. Protesters also questioned the state government’s preparedness in tackling untoward incidents even after intelligence inputs.
Ravindra Yadav, who led the blockade of National Highway 37 in Doomdooma from 9.30am to 3pm, said they have submitted a memorandum to the district administration to set up a 24x7 distress helpline for people under Doomdooma circle and permanent security involving army and paramilitary forces, among others.
This is the second attack by militants after the carnage in Balajan weekly market in Kokrajhar on August 5, which left 14 people dead.
Shah’s neighbour, Ranjit Prajapati, said, “It is routine now — rebels targeting Hindi-speaking people before any important day or festival or VVIP visit. We have not slept since yesterday. The village is in mourning.”
The Shah family is associated with the tea business. There are over 700 Hindi-speaking households in the area who are into tea and paddy cultivation and own small shops. They mostly hail from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and came there prior to Independence.
Kishori was born in Phillobari, his grandson Sanjay said. He said the cremation will take place tomorrow.
In Guwahati, parliamentary affairs minister Chandra Mohan Patowary told the Assembly this morning that a team of four or five suspected Ulfa (I) militants carried out the attack on “innocent Hindi-speaking people”. He said a massive combing operation has been launched to hunt down the culprits. He also announced ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to those killed and Rs 1 lakh to the injured.
Doomdooma Congress MLA Durga Bhumij, while raising the issue during zero hour, asked how long Ulfa would continue to kill Hindi-speaking people.
AIUDF legislator Aminul Islam expressed apprehension that more such attacks may be carried out before Independence Day. He demanded that police and security personnel be put on maximum alert.
Sonowal rushed two of his ministerial colleagues – Atul Bora and Pallab Lochan Das – to the site. Home commissioner L.S. Changsan and additional director-general of police R.M. Singh were also in the team that visited Phillobari this evening to
take stock of the situation. They handed over ex gratia to the victims’ families this evening.
Changsan said they listened to what the local residents had to say and will prepare an appropriate response. Locals said they have been routinely targeted since 2004. On July 14 last year, rebels shot down a man and his daughter in Bijuliban area, 5km from Phillobari.
“We tried to clarify that attacks are not only aimed at Hindi-speaking people. We have had such incidents in Kokrajhar and Karbi Anglong. Several IEDs have been recovered. It’s happening all across Assam. These people have ganged up. These attacks are against everyone and the response has to be collective. We have urged the locals to cooperate and have their ear to the ground,” she said.
On deployment of additional forces, Changsan said 6,000 constables and 2,000 Assam Battalion personnel have been deployed across the state in the last few days. “The new personnel can help their experienced colleagues devote more time in the field,” she said.
Changsan said Singh would be camping in the area for a couple of days to finalise security arrangements. “We will set up fixed pickets as sought by the locals,” she said.
Tinsukia superintendent of police Mugdhajyoti Mahanta told The Telegraph over phone that Ulfa leader Rupam Asom led the five-member group. He said they have identified one more person, Uday Asom.
He said the attackers were carrying AK-series rifles and 5.56-inch bullets were recovered from the site. “We have got information that a group of Ulfa (I) rebels have sneaked into Assam from Arunachal Pradesh and started operations to track them,’’ he said.
AJYCP general secretary Palash Changmai said common people were bearing the brunt of the armed conflict. He blamed the government for the “reign of terror” in Tinsukia, saying that it had failed to put security forces on alert even after the Balajan incident.
Several organisations belonging to the Moran community and the Akhil Assam Bhojpuri Parishad condemned the incident.
Sonowal reviewed the law and order situation today and condemned Ulfa (I) for the killings. “Our government is very capable of dealing with the rebels in a strong way,” he said.
Calling upon all communities, linguistic and religious minorities to rise in unison against such inhuman acts, he said, “If everyone joins hands with the government, then it will be easier to take the battle to the enemy camp.”
Additional reporting by our Guwahati bureau
