RailEnquiry

Thirteen columns of the army today moved into riot-torn Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts to shore up security measures, which allegedly have come a cropper since violence broke out on Friday leaving 40 dead and about two lakh people in relief camps. "There are about 1,300 soldiers out there," an army officer said. One column comprises about a 100 soldiers. He said deployment of some columns in Kokrajhar was delayed by two hours (the army were supposed to stage a flag march at 8.30am) because enough magistrates weren't available. "Each column needs to have a magistrate but as all the magistrates were not available, some columns were deployed late," he said. "We expect that deployment of the army will act as a deterrent and normalcy will be restored soon," he added. Of the 13 columns, which are under the command of Rangia-based 21 Mountain Division, three were deployed in Chirang. While the army set about its task, rioters torched several huts at Rajapara village in Dangtol block. Sambhu Singh, joint secretary in-charge of Northeast in the Union home ministry, who visited Kokrajhar district today, said more forces were on the way. "Altogether 44 companies will be deployed, some of which are already in the ground. Once people get confidence, normalcy will prevail. The priority now is to rebuild trust between various groups of people so that those in the camps can return home," he said. Asked about the delay in deployment of additional forces, he said it was because of certain processes. "Area domination has taken place, but sometime it takes time." On the cause of conflicts in the region, he said, "There is no specific reason. It might be a mixture of psychological and social aspects. One also needs to look at the land problem as the people in the area are dependent on land." Singh, who was accompanied by special secretary (internal) Ajay Chadha, said an estimated 1.7 lakh people were in relief camps but the number was fluctuating as many villages had been torched. The overall situation continued to be tense with arson being reported from several areas. The death toll reached 40 as eight more bodies were recovered. The Chirang administration imposed indefinite curfew in the entire district, beginning 9am today. The Dhubri administration imposed curfew in areas like Bilasipara, Lakhiganj and Dhubri subdivisions. In Kokrajhar, the curfew was relaxed from 8am till noon. Special trains The NF Railway will run three special trains tomorrow to clear passengers stranded in Guwahati. The New Delhi-bound 012501 Dn will tentatively leave Guwahati at 10.45am, the Bangalore-bound 012510 Dn will depart at 8am while one train will leave for Calcutta at 11am. The railways resumed services this afternoon by flagging off Assam-bound trains stranded at various stations outside the state. All long-distance mail/express trains resumed services from Dibrugarh and Guwahati tonight. These include three from Dibrugarh (Rajdhani Express, Kamrup Express and Brahmaputra Mail) and four from Guwahati (Assam Express, Kanchanjangha Express, Garib Rath Express and LT(T) Mumbai Express). Proper security arrangements have been made at stations and on tracks in Kokrajhar district. Singh said three companies of Sashastra Seema Bal had been dispatched while four companies of Railway Police Force (RPF) had also arrived. Some CRPF companies will also be deployed to guard trains. Helplines: Assam home department issued a release this evening, the first in the past five days, announcing the steps being taken to restore normalcy. A round-the-clock control room is being set up under the home and political department with details of telephone numbers and mailing addresses for those who want to seek or provide information. The telephone numbers are 0361-2237011 (fax), 0361-2237460, 9207045023, 9207043756. The email address is scrhome-dispur@gmail.com.