Days after Assam Government handed over four cases regarding the recent violence to the National Investigating Agency (NIA), Chief of the central investigating agency Sharad Kumar arrived in Assam capital town Guwahati on Tuesday to take stock of the investigation.
The NIA chief on Tuesday met Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Chief Secretary Jitesh Khosla and DGP Khagen Sarma and discussed about strategies to go ahead with the probe. Kumar is scheduled to visit the violence affected areas of Kokrajhar and Sonitpur districts on Wednesday. It may be mentioned here that Assam Government had last week handed over four cases of the recent violence perpetrated by the anti-talk faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militants to the NIA and an NIA team had already arrived the State and visiting the violence affected areas.
The anti talk faction of the NDFB militants had fired indiscriminately at group of civilians at five locations in Kokrajhar, Chirang and in Sonitpur districts leading to death of 78 people and injured several others. Another three people were killed in police firing the next day while agitating against the violence taking the death toll to 81. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had earlier said that the army and additional security forces, sent by the Centre had already intensified the operations against the militants and said that the State Government has handed over the cases to the NIA as it wants to root of the violence.
Meanwhile, the Assam police on Tuesday warned that the anti-talk faction of the Ulfa and NDFB militants might target the political party leaders in the State and try to carry out subversive activities in Assam capital town Guwahati ahead of the January 26 celebrations. Additional Director General of Assam Police R M Singh said this while adding that the police have received intelligence inputs that the militants might target the political parties and try to carryout subversive activities in Guwahati.
He said that the police had on Monday arrested one Ulfa cadre from Nagaon and he had revealed that he was assigned by the Ulfa commander Dristi Rajkhowa to carryout subversive activities in Guwahati ahead of the R-Day. “Based on his lead we have also recovered an explosive weighing 7 kgs from Kokrajhar district last night,” said Singh while adding that police had sounded an alert across the State ahead of the Republic Day celebrations.