Nagaon/Silchar, May 2: Delhi’s truce with the militant Dima Halam Daoga (DHD) in Assam’s North Cachar Hills and Karbi Anglong districts has run into rough weather with Dispur indicating it will petition the Union home ministry to rein in the group, much as it denies any ceasefire violation.
Sources said the officials of the two troubled districts informed the Tarun Gogoi government that it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain law and order in the absence of a mechanism to check violation of the ceasefire. A senior official in the North Cachar Hills said: “We cannot be strong with the outfit as the ceasefire ground rules have curtailed our power.”
The DHD allegedly had a hand in the series of untoward incidents in both districts during the past few weeks. A jittery Northeast Frontier Railway sought “special protection” from the government after two of its employees, including a stationmaster, were gunned down at Doldoli railway station, between Diphu and Dimapur, on Wednesday.
DHD vice-chairman Dilip Nunisa claimed today that the police “fabricated” the charge to “defame” his group. He told The Telegraph over phone that the killings were the handiwork of either the United People’s Democratic Solidarity or the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB).
The DHD entered into a ceasefire agreement with the Union home ministry two years ago.
Karbi Anglong deputy commissioner Anurag Goel said “preliminary investigation” into the series of incidents before and after the Lok Sabha poll in the district indicated the DHD was collaborating with the NDFB.
“This is a blatant violation of the ground rules and we are taking up the matter with the appropriate authority,” Goel said.
Karbi Anglong superintendent of police Pankaj Sarma said the DHD, which professes to represent the Dimasa tribe, was taking advantage of its ceasefire agreement with the Union home ministry and the relocation of security forces for the elections.
Five persons were killed and 10 injured in violence in the district during the last six days.
On April 25, militants threw a grenade at the Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC) office in the heart of Diphu town, injuring six party workers, including a former legislator. The very next day, suspected DHD militants killed three labourers at Khatkhati. Four were seriously injured in that incident.
“We have tightened the security net in some areas to prevent more such attacks,” Sarma said.
Another senior police official of the district, however, said containing militant activity would be a virtually impossible task so long as the ceasefire rules prevented security forces from launching a counter-insurgency operation against the DHD.
“It (DHD) should either be compelled to follow the rules or we should be allowed to go after it,” the official said.
Mounting pressure on the administration to deal firmly with militants, three Karbi organisations — the Karbi Students Association, the Karbi Nimsou Chinthur Asomg and the ASDC — threatened to start a mass agitation in the twin hill districts.