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Union Minister tours Assam, promises more forces

Special Correspondent

Union Minister tours violence-hit areas

Guwahati: Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaisawal on Thursday promised Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi that the Centre would meet his demand for 10 more companies of paramilitary forces for deployment in trouble-torn Karbi Anglong.

Mr. Jaisawal, however, did not give any specific assurance on another request by him that the Centre should send Border Security Force (BSF) instead of the CRPF for deployment in the hill district.

A senior bureaucrat from New Delhi conveyed to Mr. Gogoi that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was very upset over the happenings in region.

The Union Minister who arrived on a day's visit to take stock of the situation also had talks with top police and civil officials at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi international airport after a tour of the violence-affected areas.

Assam Director General of Police P.V. Sumant told Mr. Jaisawal that at present 20 companies of paramilitary forces besides Army personnel have been deployed.

A bandh called by six political parties to protest the "failure" of the State Government to contain violence in Karbi Anglong affected normal life in the State on Thursday.

Mr. Gogoi informed Mr. Jaisawal that the State Government has been trying to defuse tension by involving all communities apart from the Karbis and the Dimasas of both Karbi Anglong and the neighbouring North Cachar Hills district.

Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Rajiv Agarwal, who accompanied the Union Minister is scheduled to meet leaders of the militant outfits, the United People's Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) and the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD).

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