GUWAHATI, Dec 4 ? Five additional companies of Army have moved into the troubled torn district of Karbi Anglong to help the district administration to bring the situation under control following a series of clashes between the Karbi and Kuki communities. The Karbi Anglong Deputy Commissioner A Goel told The Assam Tribune this evening that with the arrival of the additional force, the total number of Army companies in the district has increased to eight and the new companies would start operating in the disturbed areas of the district shortly.
The Deputy Commissioner said that the security forces are on the alert round the clock to prevent any untoward incident, but the terrain of the district puts the militants in an advantageous position as it is not possible to guard each and every village. He, however, said that no major incident of violence was reported from any part of the district since last night. The Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police of the district came under attack last evening when suspected United people?s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) militants fired at their convoy near Manja. Goel said that they were patrolling the area when the militants fired at them from about 600 yards away. The police also returned the fire and the militants escaped from the scene after only a few minutes of gun battle. ?The militants set fire to a few Kuki houses in the area and we suspect that their aim was to attack a Kuki relief camp nearby. But their attempt was foiled due to our arrival at the spot,? he added.
More than four thousand people belonging to both Kuki and Karbi communities are still living in relief camps, while, a number of Kuki people have left for Manipur and Nagaland, from where they originally came to the hill district. He said that the administration has formed peace committees involving people from both the communities to defuse the tension. But at the same time, he admitted that only formation of the peace committees would not solve the problem because of the involvement of the militant groups and the problem aggravated after a group of Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA) militants moved into the district from Manipur.