DIPHU, Dec 25: An uneasy calm prevailed in violence-hit areas of West Karbi Anglong district of Assam with no fresh incident reported even as a massive posse of security personnel kept a tight vigil, officials said on Thursday.
The Karbi and Bihari communities have been at loggerheads in West Karbi Anglong district over allegations of encroachment on Village Grazing Reserve (VGR) and Professional Grazing Reserve (PGR) lands in the tribal belts by the Hindi-speaking people.
“The situation is calm now and there is no report of any violence. Our forces are on the ground and they are patrolling all sensitive areas,” a senior official told PTI.
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He said a huge number of personnel from Assam Police, Rapid Action Force (RAF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Indian Army are on the ground, and monitoring the situation closely.
The official also said that the funerals of the two deceased were held peacefully on Wednesday night as per their respective customs.
The body of specially abled youth Suresh Dey was recovered from his house-cum-shop that was set ablaze by a Karbi mob, while Athik Timung from the indigenous tribe was killed in police firing.
The worst-hit Kheroni area in the district houses people from Bihari, Bengali and Nepali communities apart from the Karbis.
Another official from the district administration said that despite the situation improving fast, prohibitory orders and mobile data suspension will remain as of now.
“We are constantly reviewing the ground situation. We will inform the public as and when a new decision is taken. Presently, we are seeing people coming out of their homes and trying to return to their normal lives,” he added.
Agitators from the Karbi community had been on a hunger strike for 15 days, demanding the eviction of alleged illegal settlers, who mostly hail from Bihar, from the VGR and PGR lands in the two districts — Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong.
They went on a rampage on Monday after police took away three agitators from the protest site during the early hours, a move which the administration later claimed was for their hospitalisation.
The badly affected Kheroni area in West Karbi Anglong district witnessed massive violence on Tuesday, as one person was killed in police firing and another was burnt alive inside his house, while more than 70 others, including over 60 police personnel, were injured.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said the demand by the Karbi people to evict alleged Hindi-speaking encroachers from grazing lands cannot be accepted immediately, because of a stay by the Gauhati High Court. An Army column was deployed and it conducted flag marches in violence-hit areas of West Karbi Anglong district in central Assam. A column of the Army usually consists of 60-80 personnel. (PTI)
