PM Manmohan Singh keeping close watch on Assam situation

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is keeping a close watch on the Assam situation in the wake of violence in two communally-sensitive districts of the state that has claimed at least 32 lives.

National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon briefed Singh this morning on the situation, PMO sources said.

Singh then talked to Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth and told him that all help should be extended to the state government to ensure peace.

Expressing deep anguish and sorrow over the killings, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had yesterday decried the role of sectarian and militant groups.

At least 32 people, including children and women, were killed by heavily armed NDFB(S) militants in Kokrajhar and Baksa districts of Assam.

Shoot-at-sight orders have been issued and indefinite curfew imposed in the two districts falling under Bodoland Territorial Administration Districts (BTAD) area