Fresh incidents of violence in Assam leave thousands homeless

Kokrajhar (Assam): Fresh incidents of violence were today reported in Kokrajhar and Chirang districts even as clashes between Bodo tribals and minority immigrants spread to Bongaigaon district. Police said indefinite curfew was on in Kokrajhar district while night curfew would continue in Chirang and Dhubri districts. Twenty-one people have been killed in ethnic violence. [caption id=“attachment_388639” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Police said indefinite curfew was on in Kokrajhar district while night curfew would continue in Chirang and Dhubri districts. AP[/caption] Thousands of people have been rendered homeless with most of them taking shelter in government-run relief camps in Kokrajhar while in Chirang they have taken shelter in schools and local club buildings. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has directed senior ministers Nilamani Sen Deka and Prithivi Majhi to rush to Kokrajhar today while an all-party delegation is scheduled to visit the troubled areas tomorrow. The violence was triggered by the firing on two student leaders who were critically injured - Mohibul Islam of All Bodoland Minority Students’ Union (ABMSU) and Abdul Siddique Sheikh of All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) in Kokrajhar. In a retaliatory attack, four former Bodo Liberation Tigers cadres were killed on Friday night in the district and this led to further attacks and counter-attacks resulting in the deaths. PTI