Bodo vs Bangladeshi

[G.Subramaniam]

above url = After the ethnic violence that left nearly 100 dead and thousands of Bodos and Muslims in Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts areas displaced, the government has finally decided to set up 60 more police stations in the five riot-hit districts of lower Assam to ensure close vigil and better policing.



Sources in Assam Police said the state administration has asked authorities of five districts — Kokrajhar, Chirang, Udalguri, Baksa and Dhubri — to identify the places where the “proposed 60 police stations will be set up”. These five districts have recorded 2,767 cases of “riots” between 2007 and 2011, according to police records. Among them, Dhubri recorded the highest number of riots (2,157) followed by Kokrajhar (358) and Udalguri (144), Chirang (78) and Baksa (30).



However, the police records did not specify whether these riots took place due to ethnic problems.



The decision, according to a highly-placed police official in Dhubri, was taken on Thursday. “We received a fax from the police headquarters in Guwahati on Thursday. We have been told to identify the places where these police stations can be set up.”



According to the message, eight new police stations will be set up in Udalguri, 16 in Baksa, seven in Chirang while Kokrajhar — the worst affected district in the ethnic violence — will get 19 police stations. Ten police stations will be set up in Dhubri.