By IANS,
Agartala/Guwahati/Shillong : Authorities in northeast India have suspended several trains in the region and further strengthened security measures apprehending terrorist violence during Monday’s Republic Day celebrations, officials said Saturday.
“Many trains, specially those running at night in Assam, Nagaland and Tripura will remain suspended from Saturday to Tuesday. The decision was taken on the basis of inputs from the Assam government on the possible militant violence,” an official of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said.
“For the passengers, 75 trains have been either suspended or cancelled or rescheduled in the northeastern region, mostly in Assam,” the official told IANS, pleading anonymity.
Security forces have been put on maximum alert across the northeast and additional paramilitary troopers and state security personnel have been deployed to thwart possible strikes by extremist, officials in the region told IANS.
Paramilitary personnel, accompanied by bomb squads and dog squads, launched search operations at airports, hotels, bus terminals, major markets and national highways besides crowded and mixed populated areas, they added.
In addition to the Railway Protection Force (RPF), state security forces have been deployed to provide full-proof security to trains in Assam, Nagaland and Tripura, they said.
The militant outfits United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) of Meghalaya joined Kamotapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), Manipur People’s Liberation Front (MPLF) and Tripura People’s Democratic Front (TPDF) to ask people to boycott the Republic Day celebrations.
The ULFA, KLO, MPLF and TPDF, the political wing of the outlawed All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), also jointly called a 17-hour strike across the northeast region Jan 26.
The governments of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura have asked the Border Security Force (BSF) to further tighten vigil along the India-Bangladesh border to prevent cross-border movement of militants ahead of the celebrations.
Tripura police spokesman Nepal Das said: “Police and central paramilitary forces have been conducting a thorough search operation in sensitive, mixed populated and important areas and installations. People are thoroughly frisked and their identities ascertained.”