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Podcast | How the Tinsukia Killings Caused Unrest in Assam

Why were five people lined up and shot dead in Assam’s Tinsukia? Who was behind the killing? Listen in.

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Assam’s been tense since Thursday, 1 November, after a number of unidentified gunmen shot and killed five people in the state’s Tinsukia district.

The big story of the day is the death of five civilians in an attack by gunmen on Thursday, and the developments that have happened since.

Police initially suspected that the attack was ULFA’s work, ie, the United Liberation Front of Asom. But a day after the attack, ULFA put out a statement saying that they had nothing to do with the attack.

The five people who died were identified as Ananta Namasudra, Abinash Namasudra, Subal Das, Dhanai Namasudra and Syamal Biswas. All five were from the Bengali community.

Witnesses said that six men wearing military jackets and assault rifles had arrived and rounded up six Bengali-speaking men. After that the gunmen made the six men line up on a bridge facing a stream, and shot them. One man called Shadeb Namashudra was the only one of the six who survived.

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After the incident a number of youth groups called for protests and a state-wide shutdown of Assam. One thing that they all said, was that the bandh should continue peacefully, and without any violence.

Protesters sat on train tracks and even burned tyres in parts of the state on Friday. Shutters of most shops and stores were down till Saturday evening. The bandh which was supposed to continue till Sunday morning ended at 5 pm on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Assam state government offered Rs 5 lakh compensation to the families of the victims who were killed in the attack.

The West Bengal state unit’s BJP president responded to criticism of the BJP government in Assam by saying that thousands of people had died in the past when the BJP wasn’t in power. But now just five people were killed and the BJP was getting blamed for it.
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A four-member delegation of the Trinamool Congress visited the families of the victims in Assam on Sunday. TMC MP Derek O’brien condemned the killings and promised that the TMC would find the people behind the crime.

The TMC also offered a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the families of each of the five victims.

(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)

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Topics:  Assam   Podcast 

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