Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appealed for calm in the state he represents in the Rajya Sabha, nine bodies were recovered on?Saturday, taking the toll to 32.
The nine bodies, including those of four children and two women, were recovered from Khagrabari village under Salbari sub-division adjacent to the Manas National Park in Baksa district, official sources said.
On Friday night, 12 bullet-riddled bodies, including those of five women and a child, were recovered from Nankekhadrabari and Nayanguri villages in Baksa district where nearly 100 houses and a wooden bridge were set ablaze by the ultras.
Police fired in the air after a mob armed with spears and sticks tried to set ablaze a forest range office at Basbari in Baksa district early on Saturday, the sources added.
This led hundreds of people to flee their homes with some taking shelter in two relief camps. Of the four districts in the BTAD–Baksa, Kokrajhar Udalguri and Chirang–the first two were affected.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi who chaired a cabinet meeting decided to hand over investigation to the NIA. “Let the NIA investigate who is involved. None will be spared if found responsible for the violence”, Gogoi told reporters after the meeting.
“I want to coordinate with neighbouring Bhutan as the militants may hide there after committing the crime. If the NIA comes then that can be done,” the chief minister said.
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