Army to intensify operations in Assam

Army chief Gen. Dalbir Singh Friday said operations will be intensified in violence-hit Assam where Bodo militants massacred dozens of tribals two days before Christmas.

Talking to media after meeting Home Minister Rajnath Singh, he said 66 army columns have been deployed in Assam for counter-insurgency operations.

"We are going to intensify our operations in Assam. I can't give out any more information," the army chief told reporters after the meeting.

"The meeting was to review the security situation in Assam," he said.

According to sources, the home minister asked the army chief to ensure that peace returns to the violence-hit areas.

Security forces Friday stepped up operations against Bodo militants in Assam after Rajnath Singh ruled out talks with them after the massacre.

The home minister had visited Kokrajhar and Sonitpur districts and reviewed the law and order situation Thursday.

The 50 companies of the paramilitary forces rushed to the state by the central government have been deployed in the violence hit areas and along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border in Sonitpur district as well as the India-Bhutan border, official sources said Friday.

Army spokesman Lt.Col.S. Newton said in Assam that the counter-insurgency operations had been intensified in and around the districts hit by violence.