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Assam violence: Families refuse to bury dead; 30 arrested till now

Curfew continues in Kokrajhar; NIA to probe violence

Salbari: Demanding that chief minister Tarun Gogoi visit their area, people of Salbari in Assam's violence-hit Baksa district on Sunday refused to bury their kin killed in attacks by NDFB-S militants.

Angry protestors in Nankekhadrabari area have said they will not perform the last rites of the bodies of the 18 people, including children and women, till Gogoi comes and personally assures to provide security to their lives and property.

"Does our life have no value? We are only demanding that we are protected and we are not attacked and killed in future" they told reporters.

"The district administration instead of providing violence-hit people security and protection, is now threatening to arrest us if we do not perform janaja (last rites) of our dead", they alleged.

There is no immediate word from official sources about the chief minister visiting the area. Heavily armed NDFB-S militants had gunned down 18 persons on Friday night and torched over 100 houses since the militant outfit started its mayhem against a minority community in the BTAD's twin districts of Baksa and Kokrajhar from May one.

Altogether 32 people were killed in the violence, several others injured and thousands rendered homeless in the two districts.

Meanwhile, indefinite curfew imposed in neighbouring Chirang district of the Bodoland Territorial Administrative District (BTAD) since Friday night was relaxed for six hours from 10 am today, district administration said.
The state government had blamed the Songbijit faction of the NDFB, which on Saturday denied involvement through a voice mail sent to the media in Guwahati.
Gogoi, who denied any connection between the attack and Lok Sabha elections, on Saturday announced his government has decided to ask the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe the violence.
One of the three massacres took place in a village where a police constable was killed on April 24, the day voting for Kokrajhar parliamentary constituency was held. Mr Gogoi said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was keeping a close watch on Assam.
( Source : dc/pti )
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