Over 5,100 people killed in Assam insurgency in last 24 years

GUWAHATI: 5,166 people, including 912 security personnel, were killed in insurgency in Assam in the last 24 years, the state government said today.

They were killed in 9,382 incidents of violence by insurgents from 1991 to July 2015, Agriculture Minister Rockybul Hussain said on behalf of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in reply to a query in the Assembly.

To control militancy and for the protection of life and property, the Unified Command structure was introduced in the state on January 21, 1997 with the police, army and paramiltary forces working together for anti-insurgency operations, he said.

The measures to control militant activities in the state include setting up of fixed police pickets, increased patrolling by security forces, operation in the insurgent- active areas and involving the local people in the anti-insurgency operations, Hussain added.