Situation improves in Assam district

The situation in Assam's Karbi Anglong district showed signs of improvement Saturday after being on the boil since Wednesday over the demand for a separate state in the hill district.

An indefinite curfew, which had been imposed in the district since Wednesday, was lifted for three hours Saturday. However, the administration enforced the curfew again after 11 a.m.

"There is no major problem in the district today except for a few stray incidents. We had relaxed the curfew for three hours but it was enforced again to ensure that the situation do not turn violent again," said a senior police official deployed in the district.

The army, which had been called in to assist the state police in the district, carried out a flag march in violence hit areas of the district and additional forces had been deployed.

Stary incidents of violence were reported Saturday on the outskirts of district headquarters Diphu. Several government offices were damaged by protestors who had been intensifying their agitation demanding a separate state in the district.

Assam's Revenue Minister Prithibi Majhi and Water Resources Minister Rajiv Lochan Pegu visited violence hit areas Saturday. A delegation of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) - which runs the administration in the district - will to go to Delhi to meet UPA leaders.

The agitating organisations have formed a Joint Action Committee for Autonomous State (JACAS) to press the central government for granting statehood to the district on the lines of Telangana.

Normal life was affected in four districts of Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts (BTAD) Saturday following a shutdown called by some non-Bodo organisations opposing the demand for a separate Bodoland state. Several Bodo organisations called a 12-hour rail roko programme demanding a separate Bodoland state Friday.

The Koch Rajbongshi Students Union (AKRSU), which had also stepped up its long standing demand for a separate Kamatapur state for the community, met Assam Governor J.B. Patnaik to press for their demands.