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Army deployed in North Cachar Hills to prevent tribal war
Vinayak Ganapathy in Guwahati |
April 06, 2003 06:33 IST
Alarmed by the prospect of another series of ethnic clashes, the Assam government has deployed the army in the North Cachar Hills district and simultaneously decided to send an all-party delegation to the area to calm frayed nerves.
Six more bodies were recovered by the police on Friday taking the toll in Thursday's massacre of Dimasa tribals by militants of the Hmar People's Convention to 28.
Worried about a backlash by the Dimasas, the government thought it prudent to call in the army in the Dimasa-majority North Cachar Hills district and put it on standby in neighbouring Cachar.
Meanwhile, alarmed by the worst ethnic flare-up in the state since the Bodo-Adivasi clashes in Lower Assam in 1996, the state assembly, which is in session, decided to send a peace mission to the affected areas. Speaker Prithibi Majhi will lead the delegation.
Police officers in Silchar said panic-stricken Dimasas lynched a Kuki tribesman, mistaking him for a Hmar, in Diongmukh village of North Cachar Hills district.
Thousands have been displaced in clashes between the Dimasas and Hmars over the past week. The district administration has announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 5,000 to the families of each of those killed.
Minister of State for Home Rockybul Hussain has rushed to Silchar to take stock of the situation. Senior police officers led by Director General Hare Krishna Deka are camping in the two districts.