The Assam government has put its administration on high alert following the lynching of a rape accused, Syed Sarif Khan, from the State by a mob after dragging him out of the Dimapur jail in Nagaland last Thursday.

The government has asked the Deputy Commissioners, the Superintendents of Police and the Divisional Commissioners to provide security to people from Nagaland living in the State and to ensure the safety of travellers between the two States.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rockybul Hussain listed the steps in a statement in the Assembly after the Opposition raised the issue.

The government informed the Assembly that Nagaland promised to arrest the guilty and instituted a judicial investigation, besides suspending three officials.

Mr. Hussain said Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had written to his Nagaland counterpart, T.R. Zeliang, requesting that those behind the lynching be arrested and the lives and property of Assamese be secured. The Chief Minister had written to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to take up the matter with the Nagaland government.

He said Sarif Khan, 28, from Bhanga village in Karimganj district had been living in Dimapur for over two years after marrying a Naga woman.

Mr. Gogoi told presspersons that it was important to fix responsibility for security lapses. The Union government owed an explanation because the Central Reserve Police Force was deployed for jail security.

The movement of lorries to Nagaland remained suspended. Members of the All-Assam Goods Carrier Truck Drivers and Handyman Union staged a protest in the city. There was no fresh outbreak of violence at Dimapur, the commercial town of Nagaland, on Friday night. Curfew and prohibitory orders are in force.

(With additional reporting by Iboyaima Laithangbam)