Two passengers were killed and seven others injured on Sunday after being thrown out of a Bangalore-Guwahati train, railway sources said.
One of the passengers, who is now admitted to the district hospital, said they were looted, beaten up and then thrown out of the train by unknown persons.
Police found two bodies near Belakoba railway station, few km away from New Jalpaiguri, on Sunday morning while seven other persons were found lying injured near the tracks.
“The two had died on the spot. We do not know the reason behind the incident. We are investigating the matter,” said New Jalpaiguri area manager (rail) Partho Sarthi Seal.
The injured have been admitted to the district hospital and the North Bengal Medical College Hospital.
Protesting against the incident, locals staged a rail blockade delaying many local trains and all Assam-bound express trains.
Later in the day, the blockade was lifted.
We all know that thousands were fleeing back to Assam. We know there
has been violence in Kokrajhar, and other places in Assam. We all know
there is heightened tension all around.
And yet, the Railways did not bother to have these trains guarded
heavily by the RPF. Is the Easter Railway so callous, and useless?
It is common knowledge, that these trains to and from Guwahati are
frequently attacked, and passengers killed, molested, and robbed. And
these incidents happen when the trains cross some areas in W. Bengal,
and Bihar.
If the railways cannot provide this basic safety, they should have all
the top officials resign in shame.
It is very sad to see the exploitation of the psyche of the NE people.
I have had a very long experience in working with people from NE and
it was a pleasure to work with them. They are sincere, simple and
highly trustworthy.Their simplicity has enabled the anti-nationals to
create a fear psychosis and resultant mass exodus. We the non-NE
Indians are also equally responsible for not instilling confidence in
these simpletons that they will get full protection from such anti-
nationals. Most of them were employed as casual labourers and security
guards, where exploitation (as cheap labour) was more norm than
exception. Today the Home Secretary has come out with a statement that
the morphed pictures and venomous messages were the handiwork of Pak.
Reactive than being pro-active. Soft-pedaling on anti-national
activities such as the one that took place in Azad Maidan of Mumbai
with misplaced political aim bores a huge danger for the entire
democracy.
When there is mass panic and a paucity of tickets to travel reserved,
fights are bound to break out and there are bound to be casualties.
All systems, including the railways and the police, are meant to
handle a certain capacity.
As responsible citizens, nobody should heed or spread rumours. Rumour
mongers can never be singled out usually, since rumours have no clear
and well defined beginning, generally. It is a failure not only on
the part of the authorities, but also a failure on the part of every
single person from the North East who fled from the cities they came
to live in. The rumour mongers (whoever they were) only exploited the
herd mentality of the group.
Govt should not leave the criminals behind this case. they should be
punished and hanged till death.....so that from next time no one dares to
do these types of activities.......
Government has been totally overtaken by events,banning mass MMS service was
first sign of seige mentality. We are fighting symptoms and not the cause of disease.
Where as urgent steps are necessary,there is a need for cool thinking and
developping a long term strategy. Those who are too much worried about India's
image should first look at inside our home,what has gone wrong,is a sham
democracy answer to our teething problems or we need a new social contract,where
at least our lives are not devastated due to filthy politics and vote bank greed.
Atrocious incidents that threaten to affect national integration very seriously are unfortunately taking place in the country at the moment. Expeditious action to restore normalcy has become the need of the hour to instil confidence in the minds of people, especially all the migrants from different parts of the country. At any cost, the situation should not be allowed to worsen. The country's hard-won freedom and its status as the biggest democracy in the world will become meaningless if a quick solution is not found for the grave problem.
I think this is the work of the same people who are trying to create
fear among NE state people. What other people in the coach are doing ?
Can they identify culprits at least whether they are from NE or other
area? Quick investigation will give clues to this whole story.
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