Wednesday, October 12 2005 13:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Diphu (Assam): The toll in ethnic strife in Karbi Anglong rose to 31 today (Oct 12, 2005) with a Dimasa woman hacked to death and 51 houses of her tribesmen torched at Disagadaba village in fresh violence after a day's lull.

Over 100 Karbi speaking attackers, some of them in army uniform and armed, swooped down on the tribal village at around 5.30 a.m. and began firing and went about setting the houses on fire, police said.

As the marauders hacked to death the woman and went about setting fire to 51 out of the 60 houses in the village on fire its 300 villagers fled their homes in panic, the police said.

After the incident, security was on maximum alert and the army is patrolling the affected the area to check further violence, the police said, adding, the situation in the district was 'tense'.

The violence began on September 26 and only yesterday no fresh incident of violence reported.

Meanwhile, representatives of political and non-political organisations belonging to both Karbi and Dimasa tribes have jointly visited the affected areas to ease the tension.

The district administration has appealed to all sections of the people not to pay heed to rumours and spread panic.