11 gunned down in Kokrajhar this month

At least 11 persons,most of them belonging to political parties,have been killed in Assams Kokrajhar district this month....

At least 11 persons,most of them belonging to political parties,have been killed in Assams Kokrajhar district this month,the latest being 15-year-old student Nirmal Basumatary,who was gunned down inside his house at Latamari village under Kachugaon police station on Wednesday.

While the police have not been able to identify or arrest any of the assailants,Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has said there is a shortage of manpower in the district police to tackle the situation.

Most of the victims belonged to the Bodoland Peoples Progressive Front (BPPF),a regional party,with BPPF president Rabiram Narzary accusing the Bodo Peoples Front (BPF),a Congress ally in the state government,of the killings.

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The BPF headed by Hagrama Mohilary,a former militant leader and chief of the dissolved Bodoland Liberation Tigers (BLT),is in power in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) which has jurisdiction over the districts of Kokrajhar,Chirang,Baska and

Udalguri. Members and supporters of our party have been systematically

targeted by armed assailants in the past two years. This month has been particularly bad with so many persons killed, said Narzary.

After BPPF member Bhakta Bahadur Sharma was gunned down on November 8,ten people have been killed and 15 others seriously injured in the series of attacks that have rocked Kokrajhar. The victims also include a few members of the ceasefire faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).

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However. BPF president Hagrama Mohilary dismissed Narzarys charges as baseless.

I think the BPPF has a hand in these killings, he said. The BPF had staged a dharna in front of the state secretariat here last week demanding an end to the violence,with the BPPF and other opposition parties claiming that the Congress and the BPF had only admitted their own failure. Mohilarys dharna in Dispur only confirms that his party and its partner,the Congress,had failed to contain violence and control the situation, said Narzary.

Two senior ministers of the state government,Pramila Rani Brahma and Chandan Brahma,had also taken part in the dharna.

Meanwhile,a series of bandhs called to protest the killings have crippled normal life in Kokrajhar. As many as five bandhs were staged by different organisations in the district since November 11. Security forces have also gunned down at least six persons,suspected to be members of the anti-talk faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) this month.