An
Army trooper was killed and six
others were seriously injured
in an Improvised Explosive Device
(IED) blast at Bamungopa, just
one-and-a-half kilometres from
the Naranarayan Setu Bridge in
Jogighopa under Agia Police Station
in Goalpara District on July 31,
reports Assam Tribune.
In a statement claiming responsibility,
Arunudoy Asom, spokesperson of
Anti-Talks faction of United Liberation
Front of Asom (ULFA-ATF),
claimed three Security Force (SF)
personnel were killed and nine
others were seriously hurt in
the attack carried out by the
outfit, adds The Telegraph.
Meanwhile,
while refusing to comment on the
demand for review of the Bodo
Accord [2003], former Union Home
Minister (UHM), P. Chidambaram,
said that the Central Government
was willing to have fresh look
at the ‘arrangements’. Stressing
that the Bodos and non-Bodos must
learn to live together, the Minister
said that whatever arrangement
was arrived at after signing of
the Bodo Accord has worked. “Both
the community had agreed to live
together,” he said.
State
Forest Minister Rokybul Hussain
said that Police pickets would
be set up in strife-torn areas,
reports The Sentinel. Elaborating
the plan Rokybul said, “Arrangements
have been made to set up 66 fixed
police pickets and 37 mobile pickets
in the disturbed areas. There
will be around 30-32 police personnel
in each picket. The Centre has
already given us the go-ahead
signal for this. Temporary houses
are being set up for the pickets.
We will also expedite the process
of setting up permanent police
pickets.”
Meanwhile,
ex-Bodo Liberation Tiger Welfare
Society (Ex-BLTWS) set three conditions
for resettling the displaced people
in their respective villages.
Ex-BLTWS ‘president’ Jana Mohan
Mashahary said, “The government
must update the National Register
of Citizens (NRC) before beginning
the resettlement of people. The
names of the people who will be
resettled must be included in
the voters’ list of 1971 and they
must possess myadi land patta.
This is necessary to check influx
of illegal immigrants.” He also
expressed apprehension that the
number of immigrant camp inmates
could increase once the process
of resettlement starts.
Mashahary
also said that the newly-formed
Islamic militant outfit United
Muslim Nationalist Army (UMNA),
which declared an armed movement
on June 15, 2012, to liberate
Muslim land in 13 Districts of
Assam, could be involved in the
violence in Kokrajhar, Chirang
and Dhubri districts. “The UMNA
has also been collecting taxes
from people for raising fund for
the outfit. The outfit plans to
carry out their armed movement
from Kokrajhar to Golaghat and
the Bodo people are now their
target,” said Mashahary. Mashahary
added, “The UMNA is headed by
Ramjan Islam. |
