whose constituency was rocked by violent protest over the kidnapping and murder of Ahrar Ahmed, popularly known as Naaz of Bhanga within a fortnight of the mysterious killing of a businessman of Badarpur Pokhraj Jain was compelled to meet Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and submit a memorandum to him drawing his attention to the situation in the bordering district of Karimganj.

The abductions of Chanchal Modak, Kanchan Nag, Bipul Khasia, Tridib Deb, Ranjit Deb, Rehan Uddin, Mithun Deb, Shambhu Das and Babu Ahmed from different parts of the valley could not but cause concern as the police, long after these people have been missing, could neither trace them out or find any clues regarding their disappearances. These were followed by the kidnapping of Nurul Haque Laskar working with a chit-fund company and two school going students of Karimganj town, Khaled Hussain and Nazrul Haque. Similarly, Imadullah and Sahajahan were kidnapped and murdered. It was most heart-rending for Rajkumar from a village of Bihar who came here in search of his son Bholaram (22), driver of a diesel tanker, on the way to IOC depot near this town from Guwahati only to find out that he was murdered by unknown assailants between Gumrah and Kalain of Cachar. The police, on their part, remained clueless. His decomposed body was however recovered and buried. Subrata Das, a young man of Katigorah, was abducted and then murdered and his body was recovered after two days from the banks of river Barak. Tarun Bhattacharya, a train driver, was however lucky as he was released by his kidnappers, the UDLA militants, believed to be in exchange for ransom.

Even before people could overcome their shock, the Valley was rocked by yet another kidnapping, this time of doctor Bidyut Nath, attached to Silchar Medical College and Hospital while he was on his way back home after finishing his personal work. The miscreants dragged him out of his I-10 car near Kilgaon area between Algapur north and Narainpur road and took him away to some unknown destination. He was however lucky to be released by the kidnappers due to the intervention of Sahidul Alam Mazumder, former minister and AGP MLA of Hailakandi.

The series of kidnappings and murders across the valley have evoked widespread anger and resentment among the people and the opposition parties besides various socio-cultural and literary bodies. Bharatiya Janata Party and its Yuva Morcha of Cachar district brought out a protest rally and submitted a memorandum addressed to the Governor of Assam. The memorandum, as Kiriti Bhusan Purkayastha, party President, pointed out was not addressed to the Chief Minister of the state as he was himself responsible for the unprecedented collapse of law and order in the three districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi. It was thought proper to seek the intervention of the Governor, J B Patnaik, he said.

It is the general perception that the failure of the general and police administration is the root cause of this situation. Kidnappings for ransom and murders have become a regular feature in this valley. According to observers, the trend of kidnapping and encouragement to criminals began in 2004 when high profile NRI businessman, Pratul Deb, was abducted and murdered. The CBI which at first claimed to have got clinching evidence to tighten the noose around the criminals subsequently changed its stance and pretended to be clueless, obviously under political pressure.

The gruesome murder of a school boy in the Berenga area in the outskirt of this town recently may be described as yet another serial kidnapping and murder without letup. The 10 year old boy Shahdat Hussain Mazumder and his 11 year old cousin Janimul Hussain Mazumder were kidnapped by Raju Laskar, a mason, from their residence of Berenga. While Janimul was released, Shahdat was taken by Raju to the house of Dilu Roy where he was murdered in cold blood.

As soon as the news about Shahdat’s murder spread, agitated people of Sonai Road and Nagatila in rage and fury set on fire Sharma Hotel, owned by Dilu Roy, who had however no role in the crime. There seems to be a designed pattern behind the kidnappings and killings in Barak Valley, as many citizens believe. A high ranking police officer did admit this which calls for thorough investigation in order to unearth the truth. In the aftermath of Sahadat’s murder, rumours spread from the morning across the town about a possible backlash, giving the issue a communal twist. A sense of panic gripped and the business establishments downed their shutters. By noon, the town was almost deserted with all vehicular traffic keeping off the roads.

In the wake of incidents of violence, a Coordination Committee of citizens along with members of various organizations submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi, who is also the Home Minister for his immediate intervention. It demanded stringent measures to streamline both the general and police administration in order to ensure minimum social security to people and contain the upsurge in crime. The government was cautioned that unless drastic steps were taken, people would not hesitate to take the law into their own hands as they had done which would send an ominous signal and lead to an unpleasant situation.

Certain interesting and intriguing things have emerged from the pattern of crimes. Some criminals under political and police patronage go hi-fi in their hunt for targets. It is surprising that none of the 15 people’s representatives, three ministers, 2 MPs and 12 MLAs could be seen on the spot to pacify or control the people. They thought it wise to simply issue statements.

Under mass pressure and fearing more backlash, Karimganj police acted. A police team went all out to nab Salim. He was located at Belonia on the Tripura-Bangladesh border and was nabbed along with Hifjur Rahmam with the help of Tripura police and CRPF;.

In the aftermath of the kidnapping of Dr. Nath and the brutal murder of  Sahadat Hussain Mazumder, the mass upsurge vented its anger at police inaction. Citizens cutting across caste and creed reached out to the panicked residents to maintain peace and harmony when wild rumours bordering on a communal overtone swept around. Perhaps, taking a leaf from Bhanga, both the Cachar and Hailakandi police became proactive and arrested Raju Laskar, Shahdat Hussain’s killer from Badarpur railway station.

AIUDF MLA and General Secretary Ataur Rahman Mazharbhuiya referring to the serial crimes said the trend and tendency among criminals has hardened after the kidnapping and murder of Pratul Deb. His assailants even after CBI investigation remained at arm’s length. He admitted without any jugglery of words how politicians protected the criminals for their selfish political gains. He made pointed reference to a minister of the state who openly said at a public meeting that Salim who killed Naaz was his intimate person and he needed ‘your help and support’. The criminal-politician nexus also came out at the meeting of the citizens with M C Jouhari, Commissioner of Barak Valley and Dima Hasao district. It was admitted both in the civil society and administrative circles that the way people had taken the law in their own hands was an ominous signal. Concerned citizens now ask, ‘Will the administration and police now act freely without any political interference?’