NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 8: Thursday night's massacre in Tinsukhia district in Assam, where at least 30 non-Assamese migrants were gunned down by suspected ULFA militants, could have been prevented if the state government had ensured implementation of a night curfew. The decision to impose the curfew had been taken by the State's Strategic Group, headed by the Chief Secretary and comprising the DGP, Army Corps Commander and senior IB officials, on December 3, but it wasn't in force in remote Sadiya in Tinsukhia district, on the night of the most recent massacre.Now, a Central team is readying to go to Assam. Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta also air-dashed to Delhi on Friday to meet with Union Home Minister L.K. Advani along with Governor S.K. Sinha.Pillai, who returned from Assam last week, had in his report to Advani and other senior officials accused the Mahanta government of becoming ``complacent''. Over a hundred non-Assamese people, mainly Biharis, have been killed in the last fortnight.Pillai told The Indian Express that there was no fool-proof way to ensure safety of each and every non-Assamese in the State. ``They must be spread over 2,000 places in Assam. But surely, if the Strategic Group's direction on night-curfew were enforced, Thursday's killing wouldn't have taken place. We still do not know why the directions were not followed by junior-level bureaucrats,'' he stated.As of today, 27 Central Reserve Police (CRPF) batallions are stationed in Assam. Home Ministry sources said there was no move to increase its strength at this juncture.
