Assamese, Biharis clash in Tinsukia

Violence, including group clashes and arson, accompanied by looting on Wednesday worsened the situation in the industrial town of Tinsukia, in upper Assam, where indefinite curfew was clamped at 1145 IST.

Tinsukia has the highest concentration of Biharis in the entire Northeast. For the most part since 1985, the MLA has been a Bihari.

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On Wednesday, a mob of about 200 Biharis armed with lathis and daos (machetes) ransacked the Tinsukia Development Authority's office and beat up seven employees.

Even as the police made attempts to control them, a group of Assamese residents retaliated leading to injuries to 10 persons. The police then opened fire to end the clash.

Rajesh Rai (24) was injured in the police firing and declared dead at the Tinsukia Civil Hospital.

When the district collector's vehicle was stoned by both sides, authorities clamped indefinite curfew in the town and made several arrests.

About 66 houses, mostly thatched huts of Bihari labourers and shopkeepers, were set ablaze in the oil township of Duliajan and the fertilizer township of Namrup on Tuesday evening.