A Day to Remember:Heart in my

On 20/8/14, that was the day when my heart was in my mouth. I was posted in Khatkhati, a small ghetto in Assam's Karbi Anglong district.on that fateful day I went to meet one of my school friend Rajeev Chauhan, who had come at a place Numaligarh for some official work. Numaligarh is some odd 100 kms from Khatkhati. He knew that I was nearby, he gave a call and we planned to meet. I planned to visit his office making it official by a visit to my CRPF camp nearby. I got the prior approval from my head of office, and also apprised him about the motive of my visit. He raised no objection and gave a green signal. At 0730 hrs I along with my four armed security personnel and driver started for my destination by govt vehicle tata sumo. At that hour the roads were empty and had no traffic and everything seemed perfect. I had calculated the time and had planned accordingly. By 0930 hrs we reached our camp and after doing a few formalities of official work I left at 1015 hrs again to meet Rajeev whose office was on the way back and approx 8 kms from my camp. I also planned lunch at another tea gardener friend after meeting Rajeev. The office of my friend was on NH 39. I met him warmly and had a cup of tea with him and few of his fellows. After spending 1 hour at his office I again left for my destination and lunch.

           After going few kilometres on NH 39 on my way back, I saw a gathering of people on both sides of the road. This place is called ‘tel garam ‘ in local dialect as trijunction of Numaligarh refinery limited.i was sitting in front seat beside driver and my protection in middle and rear seats. As our vehicle approached near the crowd they started caving in and suddenly started pelting stones on our vehicle from both sides. We were clueless whatsoever about the situation.one stone as big as shot put struck my window and shattered it. As the luck would have it I always keep my window up when travel, for reasons inexplicable. And that day this eccentricity saved me. Now the mob started beating the vehicle with sticks and shattered all windows. I instructed the driver not to stop and keep driving slowly not to run over on anyone. They heckled the protection and tried to pull them out but didn’t succeed. Though we were armed with automatic weapons we could least do anything against the mob, which if done, had added fuel to the fire.. Some how we managed to get through it but still shocked at what we just went through. Somewhere I thought that we had escaped the worst and now once we will reach our campus everything damaged could be taken care of. But my relief was shortlived.

         After going another few kilometres I saw another set of mob. We stooped at once some 500 m before that. Now we came to know that we were really fishing in troubled waters as we cannot go back either as we just escape from the dreaded mob.at the same time drizzling started. I made a few calls for help from my nearby units but they showed their inability for any assistance. Meanwhile, news about this incident spread like wildfire all over and calls started pouring in from senior offices and officials. Due to drizzling, there were no vehicles on the road which was in favour of us. Now we started oscillating between both mobs. Then I took a decision. There was an Assamese type house on roadside and little in the depth and an open courtyard in front. We drove our vehicle in the courtyard and knocked on the door. A boy of around 20 opened the door.

One of my Assamese protection told him our situation and ask him for permission to stay for few hours till normalisation of situation.as we were in uniform he didn’t object and let us entered in an empty room. There were four members in the house, boy’s wife, his brother and his toddler son.

A tv was broadcasting live news of ongoing mayhem in the next room. I got the jolt of my life seeing the broadcast,. The trucks were set on fire not far away from our shelter and videos of a mob attacking the police personnel on duty leaving them in blood.we were little relieved that now we were safe and could go back once things become normal. After 1 hour the guy of the house came to us and told that the villagers were asking ‘whose vehicle is this ‘, he also requested us to vacate his house or else he would be in trouble for giving us shelter.

The genesis of the crisis is between the tribals mostly work as tea garden labourers and nagas of Nagaland,. This disputed territory between both states covers approx 1200 sq kms and is known as disputed area belt ( dab) since 1970. Two battalions (2000 personnel) of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) are deployed as a neutral force to maintain status quo and law and order between the two states. It is directly under the supreme court jurisdiction. The dab is a fertile area that mostly falls towards Assam whereas the Nagaland side is hilly and undulated.that’s why dab is a bone of contention between both states.

Nagas are warrior tribe and by use of might and weapons, they had dominance in dab area. The nagas are also known for their free and easy life. As the region is fertile, they started keeping labourers for cultivation. Mostly these labourers are tribals of Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand. Initially, the agreement for payment was part of the yield and they started living there as well. This has been going on years without any trouble. But as time passes the population of tribals increased in manifolds whereas nagas being educated remains constant in numbers. The tribals started claiming the stake inland too. And this becomes the matter of dispute every year during harvesting season.

On one such occasion in Aug 2014, 13 tribals were killed at point-blank by nagas and their bodies were nowhere to be found. Due to this incident, there were clashes between tribals and CRPF troops accusing the latter of taking the side of nagas and doing nothing in the matter. Stones were pelted on CRPF camps in that area. To take stock of the situation chief minister of Assam arrived next day but the tribals were too furious and they didn’t let him stay even for a minute and sent the cm back high and dry.infuriated by this treatment he ordered lathi charge on the poor tribals, carried out by the Assam police of Golaghat district. Next day all Assam tribal student s union wing of Golaghat district called for revenge with police. Little was known that they would chase them for their life. Moreover, a general population can not distinguish between various forces whether state police or it is CRPF or army. They only know that whoever is donning uniform is the men to be taken for a ride and it happened that day too.

As time was passing we felt comfortable in that hour. The family was Assamese and had nothing to do with this clashes, hence they didn’t want to get into this melee. We requested them that we would take care if anything happened. For that, I send my driver outside in a towel and vest to hide ‘police’ signage on the vehicle with mud and also cover the vehicle with bedsheets taken from the house. After some time passed and we had requested for tea and biscuits giving him money for that. But again after a while, the guy send his wife along with toddler to request us to vacate the house as again the villagers were poking him that everyone knows that they don’t have any vehicle and if the miscreants saw they will trouble them for giving us shelter their enemies for that day.once again my Assamese protection man tried to convince the lady of the house and we also gave the little one rs. 100 to please her.

     After few minutes we felt silence in the house. I send my Assamese guy to inquire. He went and came back and revealed that the whole family fled to the village back side fearing trouble as we were not leaving their place. Even then we were comfortable in such a situation until an old lady, an agony aunt type came and started yelling in Assamese from outside. I send my Assamese guy to inquire the matter and asked him to make her quiet by any means. After some time he came back and told that she is accusing us of getting the owner of the house in trouble and to get out of here immediately. At the same time, the rain stopped and traffic started plying again mainly media persons and miscreants as the curfew was imposed after the trouble. My guy was tackling the old lady but to no avail. Meanwhile, a few bikers saw the arguments with the old lady while they were passing. My guy immediately sensed the trouble and apprised me. They were only 5-6 miscreants at that time but slowly they called their other colleagues and they gathered in hundreds of numbers and immediately turned into a huge mob of around 1000 people.

Now as I saw through the peephole from the window they started approaching towards the house surrounding from all sides. Decided quickly and all five escaped from the backyard, where there was a paddy field filled with water up to knee level. After covering a portion of the field on the left side we came in an open area which is parking area for earthmovers of PWD department. as we came in open the mob started pelting stones and shouting ‘maro, maro’. We took the shelter in drivers hut made of thatched roof and bamboo. Now this was real trouble I got to know. I made a call to my boss and told him about the situation and admitted that we might not be able to come back alive and the vehicle might also be set ablaze by the mob surrounding us. My boss got infuriated and told me that he wants everything back safe and in order and asked me to do whatever. He disconnected the phone. Though after this call I was a little relieved.

As my mind was racing against the time for taking immediate decisions amidst this furore and panicky situation. The mob was chanting abuses and hurling stones from the boundary towards hut. My guys were also worried now.at the same time two guys from local news channel came to hut and asked me if we want to ask for help from crpf through their channel. I refused at once as I didn’t want to be in limelight among my 2.5 lakh strong force. Also I could hear the sound of beating of the body of my vehicle which we left in the courtyard. Now I took a decision and come out of the hut alone and their was a loud roar once again against us. I raise my hand with the intention of talking to them and listen to me to the top of my voice. Their were few stones hurled towards me. Then the gate of that parking opened and five or six youngsters from the crowd came to the hut. They came to me and when I asked them to listen to me, they accused us for the killing of their brethren in dab area. They seemed to be the leader of the group.

I tried my best to convince them that we have nothing to do with those killings or with them whatsoever as we had gone for some work in another district and as we were returning back we struck here in this chaos. They were not ready to buy my version and continuously urges us to come out of the gate. I knew what they had in their mind once I get out of the gate. Reluctantly we all went upto the gate and once again I requested them to spare us. I told my guys to remain behind me at safe distance and I would be the first to bear the consequences. When we got near the gate I could hear the sound of shattering of glasses of my vehicle coming and I was a really scared with the thought of vehicle being set on fire. I was not afraid of beating or lynching by th emob but only this because any damage to government property is subject to judicial proceedings facing which is a kind of humiliation equal to dying every day. 

One of the miscreant disturbed my thought and asked us to put our weapons on the ground and come out.one of my guy behind me was about to do so when I ordered him to keep it in his hand. I told the guy firmly that we are not going to detach the weapons from us as they are an integral part of our body, come what may. One of the guy from outside shouted and challenged us to train our guns on them. I told everyone inside and outside the gate that the gun is meant for militants and terrorists and not for unarmed public like them, I won’t do that even if they beat me or kill me. During this melee one lady from the mob outside the gate seemed little inclined towards me. She came towards me and I noticed it. I addressed her as ‘didi’ and told her to make them understand our plight. Majority of the people were local and carrying machetes and sticks etc. Few of them were engaged in recording our situation on their mobiles, how helpless we were.

I don’t know what happened at that moment and the leaders discussed something and sent us back to hut and they went out of the gate. Not to forget that my mind was still racing for vehicle. After few minutes, three of the guys came back to hut and one of them told us that they are president and general secretary of all Assam Adivasi students union of Golaghat district and they had understood about our ordeal, but for them, it is tough to keep the mob calm and as they are high on emotions and anger. They told us that it is better if we escape from there for the time being till the normalisation of the situation. Now we were on their disposal. They asked us to change our uniforms first which were quite visible from a distance. He brought five t-shirts and two sacks. We put our weapons in one sack and other equipments like bulletproof jacket and helmets in other and change our upper shirts with t-shirts. I asked him about our official vehicle. He assured that lady whom we talked is their sister and she will look after the vehicle. After this we broke the rear boundary of that ground and escaped with two sacks and those guys in a tea garden.

    

While walking in the garden I got calls from all the offices, colleagues and seniors. Once I tumbled down while talking to a senior but couldn’t leave the mobile so I hit my elbow on a rock, my fellow guys picked me up from the ground while I was still on call. Later my elbow developed a crackling sound. After going 500 metres deep inside the tea garden we reached a place which was in-depth and opens. We all set there. It was around 0230 hrs now. During that time we had a discussion among us. I asked the guys why they are on the rampage. One of them told that a naga CRPF officer deployed in dab area was hand in gloves with the naga miscreants who had killed their colleagues. I told them that that CRPF is a neutral force and serve the country irrespective of their caste, creed, religion and region and the officer they are talking about is one of the finest officers of CRPF. Luckily I was having a text message which was passed on to me after going through the hierarchy. It was meant for that particular situation instructing all the CRPF personnel deployed in that district and It was ‘ CRPF will not fire on the public at any cost ‘. I showed them that message which was in my phone and had been forwarded to me by my boss as I was performing the duties of staff officer and supposed to intruct all the units under his jurisdiction i. E. In six districts of upper Assam. When they saw that message it worked like miracle. Those leaders called their various groups who were involved in riots and asked them not to harm any CRPF personnel whatsoever. They also told us that the mob especially the tribals hardly listen to them when on a rampage. I was also worried about our vehicle and was asking continuously every now and then and in return, he was asking his sister who was guarding that.

When we were thinking that the situation was going to get normal we were proved wrong. The news arrived on one of the leader’s phone that police fired on the mob and had killed six civilians. Section 144 was imposed which prohibits assembling of 5 or more persons at one place and if it happens police can use the force. The leader who got the news told us that the situation is now more grave and if someone found us then we would not be spared at all and implementation of section 144 had least to do any deterrence to the mob as most of them are illiterate and don’t understand law and moreover they have attitude that if police will harm them they also had to take care of them afterwards as well, for food and treatment. So in any case they would be the guests of police.  Meanwhile, I got the call from my boss, who politely asked me, ‘ is everything alright”. Keeping my nerves intact I replied as gently ‘ yes sir and we will reach in an hour or so’.. My boss instructed me to reach as soon as possible.

By 5 pm it started drizzling and we took refuge in a tea garden labourer’s hut. They made sitting arrangements for us. There was strong urge to have a cup of tea so I asked the guys with us to made some and offer them the money as well but they refused money and instead served us tea and parathas which tasted like never before even in the time of crisis. We had our tea and parathas and thanked them. More people from other huts came to see us. We kept on talking by the time it is 7 pm. I asked our perpetrators cum rescuers when we are going to leave. The guys told me that they are analysing the siuation and would leave only if 100 % sure for the safety of us and them. After some time they said that we can leave but through the interiors of tea garden instead of main highway i.e. Nh 39. They offered us to escort us till mizo battalion camp at distance of around 15 kms. Our vehicle was till in that house. Now we were approximately 1 km away from that house. I asked the guy if they know how to drive and after receiving affirmation I gave the keys of vehicle to him instead of my driver, to bring it as I was still apprehensive of the situation. He brought the vehicle which he told was submerged in ground due to heavy rains and slushy ground. They took the help of locals to get it out. 

They took four bikes and escorted us through the muddy terrain inside the tea garden. Some luck was there as the headlights of vehicle were still intact and working, which we surely required in that area. After an hour or so we reached the mizo battalion camp which was established to guard one of the prominent tea garden of an influential person. Our escorting team bade us goodbye and returned and I thanked them from the bottom of my heart. The camp in charge was priorly informed about our arrival. The subedar major of the camp welcomed us and offered us food and bed, but being hard core vegetarian I politely refused whereas all my guys ate devoutedly. I had tea instead. It was around 8.30 pm and I again got the call from my boss. I requested him that we would stay in the camp and would return early morning as it is quite late and we were safe in the camp. But he ordered that we had to return tht day only at any cost that too safely. I asked my security guys who were in the mood to stay, to get going. I requested the camp subedar to escort us to the nearby CRPFcamp i.e. Chowkihola which lies in another district and was around 20 kms from there. He obliged but on the condition to provide fuel for their vehicle. I assured him to get it done from our CRPF camp, Chowkihola.

        he sent an escort with us till Chowkihola where we reached by 11 pm. The camp was commanded by an inspector of 20 battalions of CRPF  and informed him about us. Staying there for a few minutes we left for our camp,. The roads were clear and after few minutes we were on nh39 i.e the main road in Karbi Anglong district. Thoughts were racing in my mind. Everyone was happy. Soles of my shoes were detached and were hanging. I threw them from moving vehicle. I took off my uniform shirt and threw it too. The wind blowing was giving the impression of freedom. At around 0100 hrs we reached the campus through gate no. 1 reserved for officers only to avoid any attention on seeing our condition. After reaching in my quarter I asked everyone to sit and made cup of tea for them. I also informed the control room about our arrival. After some light heart talks with my guys and motivating them we departed to our respective homes. 

The sleep was miles away from me. I couldn’t get a wink. The trauma was too strong. Some how the night passed and I got the call from my boss at 0500 hrs on the internal phone.. It was expected by me so I keep my nerves intact and replied to him. He asked me whether everything is alright, had we got any injury and damage if any. I replied that only a little damage to the vehicle. He asked me to get it repaired immediately and asked me to meet him in his office at 0800 hrs. I sent the vehicle for repair and spent rs. 10000 from my pocket to avoid any official paperwork. I went to the office as usual with smile on my face and head held high as nothing happened. I thank all my colleagues once again and also called those saviours to my camp for a feast. It was a new lease of life. It still gives me goosebumps after so many years.