Guwahati, July 24 (IANS) Two senior ministers of Assam Saturday rushed to restive Kokrajhar to assess the situation as communal violence continued unabated there and Chirang district in the Bodoland area of the state.
A total of 19 people have been killed since Thursday in the two districts so far and over 40,000 have abandoned their homes and taken shelter in relief camps set up at safer locations by the district administrations.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nilamoni Sen Deka has already reached the violence-hit Kokrajhar while Revenue Minister Prithibi Majhi will reach there anytime soon.
Assam’s Border Areas Development Minister Siddique Ahmed also is likely to visit the violence-hit areas Saturday.
Curfew, clamped in both districts Monday, remained in force Tuesday.
“Situation remained tense in both the districts. With curfew on in both districts, no fresh incident of violence was reported from anywhere on Tuesday,” said a senior official. However, he added that miscreants were setting ablaze the houses people were abandoning in fear of attack by the other community.
The government has also issued shoot-at-sight orders in Kokrajhar district.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi reviewed the law and order situation in the districts with the top police officials Monday night, and asked Director General of Police Jayanta Narayan Choudhury to visit the area Saturday.
Railway officials said that the running of at least 20 trains in the state had been severely affected as both the outbound and inbound trains are stopped at various stations in Assam and neighbouring West Bengal.
