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Adivasi ultras claim responsibility for Rajdhani blast
Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashbiswaskl@ gmail.com
At least Five people were killed and four others injured in a bomb blast in a Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express in Assam's Golaghat district early on Thursday morning. The explosion, carried out by suspected militants, happened in the luggage van of the 2423A Dibrugarh-Guwahati- Delhi Rajdhani between Naujan and Sugajan at around 1 am, according to sources in the North Eastern railway.
A shadowy adivasi insurgent group, Adivasi National Liberation Army (ANLA), has claimed responsibility for the terror attack.

Our cadres triggered the blast using a remote system and we shall continue with such attacks in the coming days," Dilip Beg, a top the rag-tag ANLA leader, told reporters by telephone from an undisclosed location. The ANLA is a rebel group active in Golaghat and Karbi Anglong districts of eastern Assam and fighting for special rights for the Adivasis, one of the 120 tea plantation workers' communities.
The ANLA leader said his group would not remain quiet until the government conferred Scheduled Tribe status to the adivasis in Assam that would bring in more rights and privileges for the community in the state. "We have been forced to take up arms by the government and we shall not rest until our community gets special recognition like a scheduled tribe status," Beg said.
Five people died on the spot while the four injured were rushed to Golaghat Civil hospital. The luggage van was damaged as well as small portion of track. The train resumed its journey at around 6 a.m. after passengers in the affected van were shifted to a 3 tier AC boggie. Top railway officials have rushed to the site.
A low intensity bomb was apparently placed on the track. A luggage-cum- passenger coach was partially damaged. This is the first bomb blast on the Dibrugarh-New Delhi Rajdhani, although the train had been targeted twice before, once in January this year and earlier in June last year. Over 40 passengers of Delhi-bound Kamrup Express were killed in a similar attack carried out by the Bodo militants in 1996-97.
The Rajdhani Express is a popular air-conditioned train connecting India's northeast with the capital. It can carry 900 passengers, but wasn't running at full capacity. Several rebel groups are fighting for autonomy or independence in the region. The militants say India's national government exploits the northeast's rich natural resources while doing little for the area's indigenous people, most of whom are ethnically closer to nearby Myanmar and China than to the rest of India.
All the dead passengers were Hindi-speaking migrant workers from Bihar, the police official said. On December 4 last year, a powerful explosion hit the engine of a passenger train in the same area, although it failed to impact the coaches. The Kamrup Express was bound for Tinsukia in eastern Assam from Guwahati when the blast took place.

Naxals blow up Chhattisgarh police station
Three policemen, including an officer, were killed when armed Naxalites attacked the Bishrampur Police station in Bastar district of Chattisgarh. "Over 50 armed Naxalites came in four vehicles to Bishrampur Police station on Wednesday night and opened indiscriminate firing and then triggered multiple landmine blasts," said Bastar Range Inspector General of Police, Rajinder Kumar Vij.
An Assistance Sub-Inspector and two Head Constables were killed on the spot while another constable was seriously injured in the attack, he said. The extremists later set off three land mines and blew up the police station, the IGP said. The police station was having 15 security personnel, but no weapons and ammunitions were issued to it fearing that the Maoists could loot that, police sources said.
After the incident, the Naxals went to Dhamtari district from where they could have slipped into Nabrangpur district of neighbouring Orissa, the sources said. When the attack took place, Chattisgarh Director General of Police, Vishwaranjan, was present in Bastar district which is infested with naxal menace for the last two decades.
Adivasi ultras claim responsibility for Rajdhani blast
Guwahati: At least five people were killed and four injured on Thursday in a blast on the super-fast Rajdhani Express bound for Delhi from this Assam city. A shadowy adivasi insurgent group has claimed responsibility for the terror attack.
"Our cadres triggered the blast using a remote system and we shall continue with such attacks in the coming days," Dilip Beg, a top leader of the rag-tag Adivasi National Liberation Army (ANLA), told IANS by telephone from an undisclosed location.
A railway official said the blast took place around 1.05 a.m. at the Rajdhani Express near Chungajan in Golaghat district, about 270 km east of Assam's main city of Guwahati.
"Five people were killed and four others injured with the impact of the explosion hitting a portion of the luggage van of the train," T. Rabha, chief spokesperson of the Northeast Frontier Railways, told IANS.
The ANLA leader said his group would not remain quiet until the government conferred Scheduled Tribe status to the adivasis in Assam that would bring in more rights and privileges for the community in the state.
"We have been forced to take up arms by the government and we shall not rest until our community gets special recognition like a scheduled tribe status," Beg said.
The train was not derailed and all other passengers were safe. The train originating from Dibrugarh in eastern Assam has since arrived in Guwahati, on way to New Delhi.
The blast, that rattled sleeping passengers, created panic.
"I presume the bomb was planted in the toilet of the parcel van. People started screaming and crying when the explosion took place," said Rajinder Singh, an army trooper, travelling in the train.
Bimla Singh, another passenger, is still dazed. "I was two coaches behind and am really scared." There was partial damage to the tracks with just two sleepers affected. The damaged track was quickly repaired.
The injured were shifted to a hospital in Dimapur, the commercial hub of the adjoining Nagaland state.
Police suspects the bomb could have been planted inside the non air-conditioned section having a capacity to carry some 40 passengers along with cargo.
"Preliminary investigations and a look at the extent of damage caused to the tracks indicate the bomb could have been placed in the luggage van itself although a final report is awaited," Golaghat district police chief P.C. Haloi told IANS.
All the dead passengers were Hindi-speaking migrant workers from Bihar, the police official said.
The ANLA is a little-known rebel group active in Golaghat and Karbi Anglong districts of eastern Assam and fighting for special rights for the adivasis, one of the 120 tea-plantation workers' communities.
On December 4, a powerful explosion hit the engine of a passenger train in the same area, although it failed to impact the coaches. The Kamrup Express was bound for Tinsukia in eastern Assam from Guwahati when the blast took place.
Special force to combat Maoists in Jharkhand
Ranchi: Jharkhand government has sanctioned Rs 104.89 crore to raise a special task force to combat the growing threat of Maoists in the state.
The force would come up on the lines of Greyhound, the special force which has been successful to a great extent in curbing Naxalism in Andhra Pradesh, a senior police officer said.
An officer in the rank of inspector-general will command the force of 1,989-personnel. A Deputy Inspector of Police, two Superintendents of Police and 22 Deputy Superintendents of Police will assist him in the campaign to crush Maoists in Jharkhand.
The force would also comprise 155 Sub-Inspectors, 54 Assistant Sub-Inspectors, 315 Havildars, 1,295 Constables and other staff.
The police personnel in the special task force will be provided with automatic weapons and other gadgets. They will mainly remain engaged in busting the hideouts of ultras in the jungles and difficult terrains of the state.
Jharkhand has seen worst Naxal attacks on politicians and civilians in recent times. Eighteen out of 24 districts of the state have been declared Maoist-affected.
The cabinet approval came in the background of the gunning down of sitting Lok Sabha member Sunil Mahato in March, this year and the killing of 20 villagers, including former chief minister Babulal Marandi's son, Anup, in Giridh in October.

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