NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called up Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi to discuss the law and order situation in the state after clashes in Kokrajhar and Gossaigaon, where six people have died since Saturday. In the telephone call late Thursday, Manmohan Singh expressed grief and shock over the incidents and assured that the central government would take all necessary measures to curb the violence and assist the state government in restoring normalcy. “The prime minister spoke to chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who briefed him on the situation in the state. He said the state government is taking all necessary steps to ensure peace and stability,” said a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

“The Prime Minister also talked to the union home minister and asked him to extend all possible assistance to the Assam government in tackling the situation,” the statement added. Two people were killed in Kokrajhar on Thursday, taking the toll to six since November 10. According to media reports, two factions of the Bodo insurgent group National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) locked horns, which triggered the violence. Kokrajhar and Chirang districts, which form Assam’s BTAD (Bodoland Territorial Area Districts) along with Udalguri and Baksa, had witnessed one of the worst communal clashes earlier this year which led to the death of over 100 people and displacement of over four lakh people from their homes.