BHIMAJULI (SONITPUR): Army personnel were deployed at Bhimajuli and its neighbouring areas on Monday following Sunday's massacre of 12 people by militants belonging to the anti-talks faction of National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) led by Ranjan Daimary.
Nine others were injured when the Bodo militants fired indiscriminately at the people of Bhimajuli along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary at Biswanath Chariali, nearly 400 km east of Guwahati on the northern banks of the Brahmaputra.
On Monday, the toll rose to 12 with an eight-year-old girl succumbing to her injuries at Gauhati Medical College Hosiptal.
Defence spokesman Col R Kalia said the civil administration sought the army's help to control the situation and prevent any retaliatory attack. Troops of the army's 4 Corps staged a flag march in areas under Balichang outpost the centre of recent terror strikes by NDFB militants.
Early on Monday morning, hundreds of people from villages neighbouring Bhimajuli made an abortive bid to storm the Balichang police outpost in protest against the police administration's "failure" to ensure adequate security arrangements and contain militancy. Sonitpur Police, along with CRPF and Assam Police batallion personnel, managed to stop the irate villagers from attacking the outpost. However, hundreds of villagers burnt a couple of thatched houses at a Bodo village, five km north of Bhimajuli.
SP (Sonitpur) Surendra Kumar, who has been camping in the area since Sunday evening, said police's priority was to deescalate tension in the area. "We are carrying out raids. A Bodo village on the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border has been searched. Some miscreants set a few huts on fire, but the situation is under control now," the officer added.
Several villages in this remote area have been targeted by NDFB for extorting money. Though an SSB camp has been set up at Mohotolipathar nearby, people feel it's not enough to protect the villages numbering up to 15. Villagers said NDFB militants dropped leaflets at several places three days ago, threatening to wipe out Bhimajuli village. "It was a pre-planned attack," said a group of Adivasi youths in unison.
The killing of innocent villagers at Bhimajuli was unexpected as security forces, police and intelligence agencies were apprehending that the outfit would trigger blasts in Guwahati or some other major town of the state to mark the first year of the October 30 serial blasts. Last week, Guwahati Police went on record saying that NDFB bombers have entered the city and were staying in rented houses to carry out attacks.
A day after the massacre, the 35 km stretch from sub-division headquarters of Biswanath Chariali to Bhimajuli, looked terror-stricken with roadside shops remaining closed and groups of young men huddled at every corner. Closer to Bhimajuli, hordes of Adivasi young men were seen armed with bows, arrows and other sharp weapons while youths of the dominant Nepali community were marching with khukris tucked inside their shirts.
It was not just the men. Women, too, were marching towards Bhimajuli while children and the old stayed indoors. No one on the road was willing to talk. At the entrance to Bhimjuli, a group of non-Bodo youths was politely frisking a black bag that a Bodo woman was carrying.
At Bhimajuli, the bloodstains of villagers killed in Sunday's mayhem have dried up but the smell of terror was still fresh. Holes in walls of the houses and empty cases of AK47-series rifles bear testimony to the horror the villagers went through. From every household, the wails of women were loud and clear. With tension running high, the district administration was forced to cancel the visit of three ministers to the area.
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