United might to curb violence

Dispur mulls a ‘mini’ Unified Command to tackle terror in North Cachar Hills

A counter at Lumding railway station vandalised by railway employees, posted in the NC Hills, in protest against regular attacks by militants. A Telegraph picture Guwahati/Silchar, May 11 : A miniature version of the Unified Command will work to rein in the North Cachar Hills militants after Dispur decided to use all its might to check the terror run in the district. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi today asked law-enforcing agencies and the army to start “all-out” joint operations against those involved in the latest violence, without naming any group. He also asked the minister for veterinary and hill areas development, Khor Sing Engti, to camp in the district to instil confidence among the people. A source said a “mini” Unified Command-like structure would be put in place. Besides, the civil administration will participate in security meetings that will be held at 4pm every day for effective co-ordination. The recent clashes between Dimasas and non-Dimasas, looming food scarcity because of disrupted road and train services, derailment of development projects, with construction firms engaged in the East-West Corridor project threatening “absolute withdrawal”, are some of the reasons that prompted the government to “act and talk” tough. A source said the last two meetings held in Dispur on the security scenario and progress of development projects saw sparks fly among the stakeholders. “The picture painted by most at the meetings was bleak. It is not that there is little security arrangement in the district. The army representative in the last meeting requested for a free hand to deal with the situation based on intelligence inputs supplied by the state agencies. Today’s announcement by the chief minister is an outcome of those deliberations,” the source said. The hill district has 52 companies of paramilitary forces, a brigade-plus strength of army and several thousand policemen. Though there have been operations in the district, it was never a joint exercise — the necessity of which has been stressed by the local administration for some time. “We conduct operations on our own. At the most, we share some information now,” a security official said. Condemning the incidents of violence in the past few days, Gogoi said: “The government will leave no stone unturned to bring the situation under control and the culprits behind the incidents would be brought to book.” He said compensation would be given to the next of kin of those killed as well as for the injured. Rehabilitation will also be provided to those who lost their belongings in the violence, he said. At least three people were killed and several houses gutted in ethnic attacks on Dimasa settlements, allegedly by Jeme and Hmar tribals, in the past two days. Deputy commissioner S. Jagannathan said over phone from Haflong that night curfew was imposed throughout the district yesterday and would be extended for “five or six more days”. The two apex tribal organisations, the Jeme Naga Tribal Council and the Dimasa forum Jadikhe Naisho Hoshom, on the other hand, have called for a truce between two warring communities. They have also called a peace meeting in Haflong on Tuesday. Dilip Nunisa, the chairman of the pro-talks militant organisation, Dima Halam Daogah, has accused the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) of inciting the non-Dimasa tribals against the Dimasas.