GUWAHATI, Jan 27 - Security reinforcements have been rushed to Dima Hasao as a 48-hour bandh called against death of two people in police firing entered the second day today, crippling life in the hill district.
Rail communication to the hill district continued to remain snapped, with fresh reports of protestors dismantling around 100 metres of track between Haflong and Ditokcherra.
The Silchar-Guwahati passenger remained stranded at Haflong station since two days now. Railway sources said the 1,000-odd passengers in the train were stranded at the station.
In Guwahati, State Industry and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said three additional companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in Dima Hasao, to assist the existing forces in maintaining law and order.
He said 30 buses have been sent to Haflong to ferry the stranded train passengers to their destinations. However, sources said the buses are yet to reach Haflong.
The district administration has not yet given the security clearance to run trains in the district.
�The district administration has arranged for food and water and other basic amenities for the stranded passengers,� Patowary said.
The Minister further said some portions of railway tracks had been damaged by the protestors, while people squatted on tracks at different parts, leading to cancellation of all trains running through Dima Hasao district since yesterday.
NF Railway spokesman PJ Sharma said protestors removed a 100 metre track at KM 124 between Ditokcherra and Haflong. He said the railways have begun work to restore it.
Railway property at a couple of stations was also damaged by the protestors.
Life in the entire Dima Hasao district has been hit badly in the wake of a 48-hour bandh which started yesterday. The bandh had been called against death of two persons in police firing on a group of people at Maibong railway station on January 25, who were protesting reports of inclusion of Dima Hasao in proposed �Nagalim� in the peace agreement between the Centre and the NSCN(IM).
Meanwhile, the All Assam Students Union today condemned the police firing on protestors at Maibong on January 25 and warned that killing of indigenous people will have dangerous consequences. Reiterating that not an inch of Assam land would be allowed to be included in the proposed �Nagalim�, the AASU demanded action against the officials involved in the firing.
A team led by AASU advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya today left for Maibong to take stock of the situation there.
The CPI-M State Committee has condemned the January 25 Maibong incident and demanded stringent measures against the guilty police officers. It has also called for steps to adequately compensate the families of those who were killed and those who sustained injuries in the incident.
