GUWAHATI, Dec 3 ? Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today ordered an enquiry into the December 1 Adhiapara (Dehar-kuriha) incident which resulted in the death of ten persons, including an Army Major and a sepoy and eight civilians. Chairman, Assam Administrative Tribunal MS Pangtey will conduct the enquiry and submit his report within 30 days since today, official sources here said. The Chief Minister also granted an ex-gratia amount of Rs 25,000 to the next of the kin of each of those killed in the incident, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister, in a letter to Defence Minister George Fernandes, described the Adhiapara incident as an ?unfortunate tragedy?. The incident ?could have been averted, had the Army informed the civil administration, before hand?, the Chief Minister said. He also urged upon the Defence Minister to instruct the echelons concerned in the Army for ensuring effective co-ordination with the civil administration which would result in tangible results on the part of the unified command structure. This is needed in order to prevent recurrent of such unfortunate incidents in future, the Chief Minister said in his letter.
The good governance initiatives with the resultant resistance of the people to the insurgent outfits and an effective unified command structure have been able to tackle militancy in the State to a large extent. One of the primary reasons for the effectiveness of the unified command has been the excellent co-ordination between the civil administration and the Army. Through this the resistance of the local people has been channelise against militancy. However, unfortunately ?an unavoidable incident? took place due to lack of such co-ordination on the part of the Army with the civil authorities, the Chief Minister said in his letter to Sri Fernandes. The Chief Minister also observed that it appeared that ?the Army was misled by the informer?.