Title - Assam riots Live: No confirmation on militants’ role in violence, says Gogoi

6.37pm Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to Times Now
“It is a serious concern. I have asked security forces to deal with the miscreants firmly. We have received no confirmation on involvement of any militant group in the violence so far,” Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told Times Now in Guwahati.

Explaining the reasons behind the clashes, Gogoi said, “Clashes are happening due to clash of interest. It is not an infiltration issue completely.”

5.19pm BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman on Assam violence

“The violence in Assam is completely communal. The prime minister being a MP from Assam should immediately issue a statement. It is a problem of illegal migrants. No minister has reached the affected areas. The ministers are being biased to a particular community. Congress should bury its communal agenda. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is trying hard not to call the violence communal but we know it is so as informed by our team vising the state today,” Sitharaman told a press conference in New Delhi.

“Thousands have people have been rendered homeless and facilities in the temporary camps are inadequate,” she said.

5.00 pm Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday spoke to Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi asking him to “monitor the situation closely” and to “ensure safety of people”.

4.45pm: A special home ministry team will be rushed to Assam to assess the security situation.

4.30pm One of the two ministers, Assam Agriculture Minister Nilamani Sen Deka who was rushed this morning to the Bodo areas to take stock of the violent situation in BTAD has been obstructed by thousands from entering the area.

4.25pm The national highway – 31, which connects the North East India with rest of the country is blocked by thousands at Bartala in Chirang district affecting traffic.

4.04 pm Activists from the All Bodo Students’ Union have blocked railway tracks at Kojkrajhar in Assam. Many trains are stopped at different stations for security reasons.

3.10pm The Centre as per the request from the Assam government has issued orders for more army deployment in the violence affected areas.

3.05 pm A 300-strong minority group is demonstrating in front of the Assam Bhavan in New Delhi demanding the scrapping of the BTAD. The group is also shouting slogans against Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

3.00pm: The Ministry of Home Affairs has asked for the additional deployment of 24 troops to Assam’s Kokrajhar district. Reports just coming in say that the MHA has commissioned a further 24 companies, which translates to 2400 additional men. The troops will be deployed to the towns of Dhubri and Chirang which saw violence erupting overnight.

Meanwhile a BJP delegation led by Vijay Goel will visit Assam to see the situation for themselves. Will report to BJP High Command on Kokrajhar

3.55pm: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi says that the state is monitoring the situation, and confirmed that nearly 50,000 people had fled their homes in the restive Kokrajhar district. “We are taking the situation very seriously. Troops have been deployed”, he said.

However Gogoi also expressed confidence that the situation would be brought under control in another 2-3 days.

2.45pm: Home Secretary RK Singh has assured the Assam government that the centre would help maintain law and order in the state. He said that the MHA was in touch with forces and lawmakers in the state. Singh added that he had also spoken to the leaders of Bodos and Muslims in the state.

Meanwhile at least 18 trains are stalled at various stations across the state, and in North Bengal because of security concerns. Trains would have to pass through the restive region in order to pass through the state.

2.30 pm Bodoland Territorial Council chief Hagrama Mohilary said that minority people from outside are creating tension in the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts.

Army patrol at Kokkrajhar in Assam. PTI “Muslim migrants are crossing the Brahmaputra from different places like Dhubri, Bilasipara, Golakganj and even from Bangladesh and entering the BTAD areas,” Mohilary said.

“There might be extremists elements. We definitely need more forces. Army presence is a must or even BSF or SSB,” he said.

1.30 pm: The DGP of the Assam police Jayanta Narayan Choudhury says the situation is under control.

“The situation is tense but under control. Forty companies are already are here. Fourteen are on the way. Force is not a problem. The Central government will provide us with as much force we need,” he said in an press meet.

The riot situation was building up gradually in the ethnically sensitive Bodoland Territorial Administered Districts (BTAD)—Kokrajhar, Baska, and Chirang barring Udalguri in Assam—since the beginning of July. The police were slow to anticipate trouble and still slower initiating action to quelling the flare-up. Nineteen people have lost their lives so far and people are still fleeing their homes for safety.

“On 6 July two persons from the minority community were killed. Again on 19 July, another two persons people from the minority community were found dead. These two incidents were indicators of what would follow. Yet in both the cases, police failed either to identify or nab the culprits,” Pramod Boro, president of All Bodo Students’ Union, told Firstpost in a telephonic conversation.

12.00 pm The Guwahati-bound Rajdhani Express was stone pelted at Gossaigaon in Kokrajhar district damaging four coaches, though there was no casualty or injuries, North East Frontier Railway sources said in Guwahati.

The train was taken taken back to Kamakhyaguri station bordering West Bengal, and may be taken to Coochbehar.