By IANS,
Silchar (Assam) : Night train services on the militancy-hit Lumding-Badarpur rail section that connects southern Assam as well as Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur to the rest of the country have resumed after more than 16 months.
The NFR (Northeast Frontier Railways) Tuesday resumed passenger and goods train services at night along the hill section. The services had been suspended May 12 last year due to terrorist violence and the deteriorating law and order scenario, said NFR chief public relations officer S. Hajong.
According to official estimates, more than 100 people, including railway officials, have been killed by the Jewel Garlosa faction of the Dima Haolam Daogah (DHD-J), or the Black Widow, militant outfit in attacks on trains on this section and in nearby villages of the North Cachar Hill district in Assam.
“All the trains to be run on the trouble torn section would be escorted by soldiers,” an NFR official told reporters at Silchar, an important commercial town of southern Assam between Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur.
The 221-km Lumding-Badarpur rail section is possibly the only place in India where bullet-proof engines are run and serves as a lifeline between southern Assam, southern Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura and the rest of the country.
“Suspension of train services in Lumding-Badarpur rail section creates serious problems of transportation of both passengers and essentials goods, specially food grains, to the landlocked southern part of northeast India,” said Tripura Transport Minister Manik Dey.
“The train services in day times in the hill section were resumed recently following a high level meeting held in Guwahati,” Dey added.
More than 350 militants of the outlawed DHD-J surrendered en masse and deposited a huge cache of weapons and explosives at a public ceremony at Haflong, the district headquarters of the North Cachar Hills district in southern Assam on Oct 2.
The move raised hopes of an end to long years of violent insurgency in southern Assam, adjoining Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur besides Bangladesh.
“Following the centre’s direction, there has been heavy deployment of army, police and paramilitary forces in the hill district to fight tribal guerrillas, who take advantage of the thickly forested and rugged terrain of the region,” a senior paramilitary official told IANS in Silchar.
A central team headed by Special Secretary (Internal Security) Raman Srivastava had visited trouble-torn southern Assam few months back and held a series of discussions with state government and railway officials.