The number of deaths in the recent bout of violence in Assam rose to 81 on Saturday with the police recovering the body of missing person in Kokajhar district on Saturday. The body has been identified to be that of one Kimu Hasda, an Adivasi villager who had remained missing since December 23.
Meanwhile, over 25,000 inmates of relief camps on Saturday left for their homes in violence-affected districts, bringing down the total number of camp inmates to 1.82 lakh now. The authorities on Saturday closed down 13 camps, following which there are now 103 camps left, an official press release said. Though incidents of violence was limited to only a few villages, most of the people had fled their villages out of fear.
Over 1,000 persons, mostly belonging to the Bodo community were brought back from Arunachal Pradesh and put into a relief camp in Sonitpur district on Saturday. These people had fled to the neighbouring state for fear of retaliatory violence in the wake of NDFB(S) attack on Adivasi villagers on December 23. The Assam government meanwhile is also trying to bring back over 1,000 Adivasis from Alipurduar in West Bengal after they had taken shelter there following attacks in Kokrajhar.
The police meanwhile have registered 102 cases and arrested 64 persons in connection with the December 23 violence in four districts. Four of the cases – two each in Sonitpur and Kokrajhar districts – are being handed over to the National Investigating Agency (NIA).
