Title - Army stages flag march, train services paralysed in Assam

Army today staged a flag march in trouble-torn Karbi Anglong district as fresh incidents of violence erupted even as railway services were paralysed in Assam with several ethnic organisations stepping up their demand for separate states on the lines of Telangana.

The army was called in to assist the civil administration and it staged a flag march this afternoon in several violence-hit and vulnerable areas, official sources said.

Two additional companies of paramilitary forces have also been deployed in the district which witnessed violence for the third day today following the Congress and UPA's decision to create Telangana as the 29th state of the country.

Train services across the state have been affected following the 12-hour Rail Blockade called by different Bodo organisations to press their demand for a separate Bodoland.

Angry protestors removed six kilometres of railway tracks in the Diphu-Lumding section and as a consequence, train services between Upper and Lower Assam have been paralysed with major trains controlled at Dimapur and Lumding, police said.

An irate mob set ablaze a bus of Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council and an Inspection bungalow of the Public Works Department at Umlalfera area.

Protestors also attempted to set ablaze the Congress party office at Howraghat but were stopped by the police.

Earlier, protestors set ablaze a government vehicle at Nungpung, an electricity office and the handloom and textile departments at Hamrem.

The police have arrested the President of Karbi Students' Association (KSA) Laiseng Engleng for allegedly inciting violence and seven others have been rounded up from Dokmoka area taking the total number of arrests to 18 since the outbreak of violence in the hill district.

Parliamentary Secretary (Home) Etuwa Munda has rushed to the trouble-torn district and has appealed to the people to maintain peace and calm.

He also appealed to the protestors not to damage government offices and property as this will not help their cause in any way.

All Bodo Student's Union (ABSU) along with prominent Bodo organisations, including NDFB (Progressive), All Bodo Womens' Federation (ABWF), Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS), Bodo Peoples' Progressive Front (BPPF) and others squatted on railway tracks with placards at Kokrajhar Railway Station since early morning in support of the rail blockade. No trains could either enter or leave Kokrajhar.

At least 17 trains, including major trains like Up and Down Rajdhani Express, Saraighat Express, Kamrup Express, Brahmaputra Mail, have been regulated at several stations including Guwahati, Bongaigaon, Rangiya and Alipurduar while nine trains have been cancelled, North East Frontier Railway sources said.

Tight security has been imposed in and around all railway stations in Lower Assam districts of Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Chirang, Baksa, Nalbari and Kamrup.

Normal life was affected in several districts of Lower Assam following the 36-hour bandh called by All Koch Rajbongshi Students' Union (AKRSU) demanding a separate Kamtapur state since yesterday.