Shoot-at-sight orders in Assam's violence-hit Kokrajhar district

Kokrajhar, July 24 (ANI): Shoot-at-sight orders have been issued and indefinite curfew clamped in the violence hit Assam's Kokrajhar District.

Night curfew was also clamped in Chirang and a few places in Dhubri District.

Meanwhile, with the recovery of another body in Chirang District last evening, the death toll has mounted to 21.

The latest wave of violence was sparked on Friday night when unidentified men killed four youths in the state's Bodo tribe-dominated Kokrajhar District near the borders of Bangladesh and Bhutan, police officials said.

In retaliation, armed Bodos attacked Muslims, suspecting them to be behind the killings.

Kokrajhar Deputy Commissioner, Donald Gilfellon, said that 37 camps had been set up to help the refugees and that more would be opened if needed.

"Thirteen relief camps have been set up with six in the Gossaigaon subdivision and seven in the Kokrajhar district. The Kokrajhar district administration called in the army and have also imposed a night curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. since yesterday to control the situation. Security forces were deployed in 31 sensitive areas in the Kokrajhar district on Sunday," said Gilfellon.

Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman, said the flare up was a tribal issue that Assam authorities had to address.

"The dispute is about Bodos-who are tribals-accusing the government of looking the other way when their lands are being taken away by immigrants. And therefore this is a very serious issue of tribal rights, communal issue, which has flared up and the Congress government in Assam owes an explanation." (ANI)