Bengal will give shelter to Assamese refugees: Mamata
Terming the situation in violence-hit districts of Assam as 'deplorable', West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the state will provide shelter to refugees fleeing trouble-torn areas.
"The situation in Kokrajhar and other districts in Assam where the conflict is on is deplorable ... Bengal will give shelter to the people coming from Assam in the wake of the conflict," she said at the launch of employment bank and social freedom (Samajik Mukti) card here.
"The administration in the bordering districts has given shelter to those leaving Kokrajhar. It is our social responsibility to provide them shelter and food even if we are half-fed," Banerjee said.
The Chief Minister also appealed to political parties to behave in a restrained manner and not to incite any violence in the present volatile condition in Kokrajhar. Thousands of people were crossing over to Coochbehar and Jalpaiguri due to the violence in Bodoland Territorial Autonomous districts which entered its sixth day on Thursday.
Meanwhile, on Thursday in riot-torn lower Assam districts one person was killed in police firing while four persons were injured in an attack by a group of persons in Baksa district.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi arrived in Kokrajhar to review the situation in the riot-affected areas where tension prevailed.
Kokrajhar district executive magistrate Bipul Saikia was injured in an attack by unidentified assailants and his vehicle damaged while he was on his way to visit a relief camp in Bhotgaon Kanchipara area of the district.
In Dhubri district, one person was killed on Wednesday night when the police fired to quell a mob, taking the death toll to 41, IGP (Law and Order) L.R. Bishnoi said. Four persons were seriously injured when some persons opened fired at Mussolpur in Baksa district, neighbouring Chirang district.
Stray incidents of violence were reported from Kokrajhar district as well as Chirang, Dhubri and Baksa during the night.
The Army and the para-military forces were deployed in the area. The chief minister, who arrived here at 11.30 AM in a helicopter from Guwahati, is scheduled to review the situation in a meeting with senior police and civil administration officials at the Circuit House.
He is also scheduled to meet people displaced from their homes due to the conflict.
Indefinite curfew and shoot-at-sight orders were in force in worst-affected Kokrajhar district, while night curfew was on in Chirang and Dhubri district.
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