Death toll rises to 81, operations launched against Bodo militants

Operations were on Friday intensified against NDFB-S militants along the border with Arunachal Pradesh even as the death toll in the massacre rose to 81.

Normal life was, meanwhile, disrupted by a bandh called by several organisations in Assam.

Two persons, one each in Sonitpur and Chirang, injured in Tuesday's attack by NDFB-S militants succumbed to their injuries last night, while a charred body was recovered from Gossaigaon in Kokrajhar district Friday morning, a police spokespersons said on Friday.

A day after Home Minister Rajnath Singh made it clear that there will be no talks with terrorists and "zero-tolerance policy towards acts of terror", operations by security forces have been intensified along Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border in Sonitpur district, which bore the brunt of NDFB's attack.

A defence spokesperson said troops along with the police and paramilitary forces had intensified counter-insurgency operations along the border with the neighbouring state to flush out militants and smash their hideouts.

Aerial surveillance of the area was also carried out by Army Aviation Helicopter sorties, he said.

Army was also extending full support to the civil administration to instill confidence among the affected people and restore peace.

Meanwhile, a 12-hour bandh called by the All Assam Adivasi Students' Association, Assam Tea Tribes Students Association and Asom Yuva Parishad disrupted normal life across the state.

The bandh was total in the affected districts of Sonitpur, Kokrajhar, Chirang, Udalguri and Baksa along with tea garden dominated districts of Jorhat, Golaghat, Sibsagar, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia in Upper Assam.

Hundreds of vehicles remained stranded as a large number of adivasis on Friday blocked roads in different areas of the district in protest against the massacre of adivasis by suspected NDFB-S militants in Assam.

The agitators under the banner of 'Adivasi Sengel Abhiyan' blocked the Malda-Balurghat road near 20 Mile and also Gajol-Bamungola road near Badnagra from 9 am.

"The blockades have been continuing despite repeated appeals by the district administration to lift them as hundreds of vehicles remain stranded," Gajol Block Development Officer Sauvik Mukherjee said.

The agitators are also demanding compensation to families of the victims and safety for others, Mukherjee said.

The organisation had blocked trains in Malda town for nearly 6 hours on Thursday.