Assam: Bandh disrupts train services on Guwahati-Goalpara route

Rangia: Train services were disrupted in Guwahati-Goalpara route today with the railway line being blocked for several hours by protesters opposing the coming election to Rabha-Hasong Autonomous Council. As part of the 96-hour (four-day) Rabha-Hasong area bandh since October 23, the protesters blocked the railway line at Kholia near Boko in lower Assam’s Kamrup district, officials said.  Senior railway officials rushed to the area and convinced the picketers to allow the trains to ply. The bandh supporters also threw stones at vehicles and broke wind shields and windows at Boko and Palasbari areas, they said. Meanwhile, normal life continued to be disrupted in Boko, Chaygaon and Bamungaon areas of southern Kamrup falling in Rabha-Hasong Autonomous Council following the bandh called by different non-tribal and organisations of Garo people. Offices, banks, educational institutions, markets and shops remained closed in Boko, Chaygaon and Bamungaon areas of southern Kamrup falling in the Rabha-Hasong Autonomous Council areas, officials said. Vehicles also kept off the roads and on National Highway 37 passing through the affected areas. Security arrangements have been intensified in the district with paramilitary forces and police patrolling the area with the army on standby to assist the district administration in any eventuality, they said. The bandh was called to demand the exclusion of all non-Rabha villages from the Autonomous Council, for which a three-phase election between November 13 and 25 has been announced recently. PTI