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Murder Mayhem atop Haflong: Govt Postpones Polls

By pbaruah |

Haflong: The Assam Government postpones the election for the North Cachar Hills District Council in view of the ambush that left Purnendu Langthasa and Nindu Langthasa dead even as the Black Widow claims the killing responsibility.


Winding up the hurricane trip with Governor Lt General Ajoy Kumar Singh, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi hunkered down with his cabinet colleagues in Dispur on Tuesday evening and accepted the report from the North Cachar Deputy Commissioner Anil Baruah, who urged the Government to postpone the poll in view of the volatile law and order situation.


Besides condemning the incident, the meeting decided to arrange a tight security arrangement to restore normalcy in the hills district.


During the trip, the Governor and Chief Minister assessed the prevailing situation at a meeting with the top ranked police and civil officials at the Circuit House. Mr Gogoi decided to rush five additional security force company to help the district administration contain the situation.


Both the Governor and the Chief Minister visited former minister and sitting MLA G C Langthasas, father of Purnendu and condoled the death.


Meanwhile, the police have yet to arrest the culprits behind the incident although sources say cash played an important role in the incident. They also confirm it a handiwork of the Black Widow.


The mortal remains of Purnendu and Nindu have consigned to flames in presence of thousands of people in Haflong on Tuesday afternoon.


Normalcy has yet to return to the hilly town and streets wear deserted look and the loyalists of the Langthasa are gatecrashing the residence of Purnendu Langthasa, the Chief Executive Member of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous District Council to visit the bereaved family.


Notably, the Chief Executive Member (CEM) and his associate Member in-charge of Education were shot dead by suspected Black Widow militants at Umrangshu on Monday at on their way to Longlei Hasnu village to attend a poll meeting. Two of their PSOs were also killed in the attack.


It is learnt that the militants had invited the member duo for a ‘dialogue’ at Longei Basti at 1.40 pm and sprayed several rounds of bullets on them.


Purnendu is the eldest son of former Asom Cabinet minister and the Congress MLA Gobinda Chandra Langthasa. His second son was also killed by militants two years back.


Both Mr Singh and Gogoi condemned the incident. Mr Gogoi termed the killing as an act of cowardice and said senseless killings would not solve any problem and instead it would compound the situation further.


Meanwhile, words of condemnation are still pouring in. The Dimasa Students’ Union (DSU) condemns the killing. The students body demanded immediate removal of deputy commissioner Anil Kumar Baruah for his inability in tackling the situation.

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