Assam: Violence kills 35, Army stages flag march

In the wake of violent ethnic clashes, the Army staged a flag march in violence-affected Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts of Assam on Wednesday morning.

But the death toll in the communal violence went up to 35 with the killing of three more persons by armed miscreants in Chirang district on Wednesday morning, an official source informed.

Thirteen columns of Army personnel have been deployed in the three affected districts since Wednesday morning. Union Joint Secretary, Home (North-east Affairs) Sambhu Singh has arrived in the state to take stock of the situation.

Though additional companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed, violence continued to spread to new areas in Chirang district, where more villages were burnt and three persons were shot dead by armed raiders.

Curfew was relaxed for four hours in the morning at Kokrajhar town on Wednesday morning.

Train services remained disrupted between Assam and the rest of the country for the second consecutive day, forcing the Northeast Frontier Railway to cancel many trains. A NFR spokesman informed that nearly 8,000 Assam-bound railway passengers were stranded at New Jalpaiguri Railway Station in North Bengal, where eleven passenger trains including two Rajdhani Express have been halted because of violence in Assam.

Railway authorities have asked for adequate security for Rajdhani Express trains and a couple of special trains to ferry the stranded passengers.