Hindi speakers targeted, 31 killed in ULFA attacks

Guwahati/Patna, Jan 6 (UNI) The banned ULFA scripted a horror story in Asom killing 31 people, mostly Hindi-speaking, in a string of attacks overnight, reviving memories of a similar bloodbath engineered by the outfit in 2003.

Official sources today said the United Liberation Front of Asom triggered a series of blasts and shootings since last night killing 21 people in eastern Asom.

Reports stated that ten people were gunned down in other incidents. Most of those killed were Hindi-speaking migrant labourers.

While 13 people were killed in Tinsukia district, another eight were done to death in Dibrugarh district. The toll in another shooting at Sadiya in Dibrugarh district was, however, yet to be officially confirmed with the local MLA putting the figure at ten.

Meanwhile, in Patna, the Bihar government sounded a red alert and sent a delegation of ministers to Asom to assess the security arrangements of Biharis residing there.

The government also announced an ex gratia of Rs one lakh to kin of each victim of the annihilation hailing from Bihar.

Informing the government's decision in Patna, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed concern over making the Bihari populace in Asom, the soft target of ULFA, and condemned the bloodbath.

He said he was in touch with Asom Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi over the phone. Mr Gogoi, he said, had assured him of taking necessary steps in providing security to them.

To check possible reprisals in the state, steps have been taken to provide security to train passengers to and from Asom passing through Bihar.

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