Guwahati, October 6
Suspected anti-talk Dimasa militants today killed 13 NF Railway personnel in a remote jungle near Hatikhuli, about 12 km from Lumding railway junction.
According to preliminary reports, an NF Railway team of 20 personnel was proceeding in four vehicles beyond Mandaksa railway station for inspection work when it was ambushed by the militants.
The first two vehicles managed to slip away but the ultras, who were on a hill top, ambushed the remaining two killing all the occupants. According to an official report, there was an encounter and the rebels took away the weapons of the railway security men.
They killed 11 personnel on the spot while two others died later. The dead included six RPF jawans and two NF Railway engineering staff. The rest were engineering staff members of contractors working on the gauge conservation work.
This has been the biggest attack on the NF Railway officials in the past few years and the work on gauge conservation between Lumding-Badarpur has indefinitely come to a halt.
The anti-talk Dima Halam Daoga (DHD) faction ‘Black Widow’ has been operating in thearea for some time and specifically targeting the railway installations.
Already all the major contractors have stopped work demanding adequate security as they were constantly being threatened. Work had been suspended for nearly a month and resumed only a few days ago.
Meanwhile, DHD chairman Dileep Nunisa condemned the incident saying anti-talk and anti-peace force had been trying to derail the process by creating violence.
— UNI
