india

Updated: Aug 02, 2017 10:43 IST

Unidentified miscreants gunned down Lafiqul Islam Ahmed, the president of All Bodoland Minority Students’ Union (ABMSU) in western Assam’s Kokrajhar Tuesday afternoon, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi left Guwahati after assessing the flood damage in the northeast.

Various organisations have labelled the murder as an attempt to stir up communal violence in touchy Kokrajhar, which has had a history of bloodshed.

Kokrajhar district superintendent of police Rajen Singh chose not to answer calls, but lesser police officers said Ahmed’s killing could be an attempt by tribal extremists to keep the area on boil. The extremists were behind a series of violence against minorities in Kokrajhar, the hub of Bodoland Territorial Council.

“Ahmed was shot about 4:30 pm at Titaguri. We are trying to follow clues to get to the culprits,” a police officer in Kokrajhar said.

“Lafiqul was an active leader who took up issues related to the minorities and their persecution. The state government should order a high-level probe into his murder,” Badruddin Ajmal, chief of All India United Democratic Front, said.

Organisations such as the Muslim Kalyan Parishad, Assam and All Assam Bengali Yuba Chhatra Federation condemned Ahmed’s killing.

“There is a design behind Lafiqul’s murder. The (BJP-led coalition) government should take steps to ensure this does not snowball into a major law and order problem,” Sultan Mahmud Mirdha, spokesperson for a minority literary organisation, said.

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal also condemned the killing of Ahmed. “Such dastardly acts disturb peace and harmony,” he said and instructed director general of police Mukesh Sahay to proceed to Kokrajhar and take stock of the law and order situation.