New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Home, Sriprakash Jaiswal, landed in the terror-torn Tinsukia district in Upper Assam on Sunday to review the security measures in the wake of a wave of killings by the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), in which as many as 48 Hindi-speaking migrant workers were killed at various places across three districts over the past two days.
The violence-hit areas wore a deserted look and an uneasy calm prevailed in most parts of eastern Assam as the district administrations imposed indefinite curfew and ordered shoot-at-sight ever since late Saturday.
Striking a tough posture on the face of a spurt in violence by the banned outfit, Jaiswal said the Centre would provide all kinds of help to the state to come down heavily on the militants and also to ensure security to all sections of people.
"The Central Government will extend all possible help and support to the Assam Government in providing security to the people, besides taking steps to tackle insurgency," the minister told local civil and police officials immediately after his arrival earlier on Sunday.
Jaiswal is accompanied by a team of top Home Ministry officials. He reached Dibrugarh by a special flight and headed for the small industrial township of Doomdooma to visit the family members of some of the slain people and the injured.
Family members and relatives of the victims of the ULFA carnage blocked a highway in the district and held a protest holding the bodies of some of the victims as they wait to meet the Union minister since the morning. The minister is on a day-long visit to the state to make an on-the-spot assessment of the situation.
The minister was to hold a high-level security meeting in Tinsukia with top Army commanders, paramilitary, police and civil officials later in the day. Jaiswal is also expected to hold a review meeting with Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi at Guwahati before flying back to New Delhi.
The Assam Government has already put forward a proposal, seeking additional paramilitary forces to deal with the situation.
Meanwhile, security forces have fanned out across the region with the Army, police, and paramilitary troopers engaged in a systematic anti-insurgency offensive. Authorities in eastern Assam have formed several peace committees involving leaders of all communities to instil confidence among the Hindi-speaking minorities in the area.
"These peace committees are working as vigilantes and helping the affected people to come to terms with reality and trying to heal the wounds," news agency IANS quoted a senior police official as saying.
Comments
0 comment