Assam carnage

Nagaon, May 11: Suspected members of the Jewel Gorlosa faction of the Dima Halam Daogah outfit gunned down eight labourers constructing railway quarters in North Cachar Hills in Assam this afternoon, a day after the group issued a diktat to stop all work on the East-West corridor and broad gauge conversion projects.

Both the diktat and the attack are suspected to be in retaliation to the alleged killing of a dozen of their comrades by the army in an encounter at Harelu in the district yesterday.

The construction site at Thoibasti in Faiding is just about a kilometre from the headquarters of the 8 Sikh Regiment, the troops of which were involved in yesterday’s encounter.

Work on the East-West corridor in the Mahur-Maibong section was stopped following the diktat.

A 10-member armed gang of the Dimasa outfit reached the railway construction site in Faiding and opened fire on the labourers.

Mall death

Varanasi (PTI): An eight-year-old boy’s trip to see a movie at a mall proved fatal when he lost his balance on an escalator and fell two floors.

nu, the only son of Nandlal, a driver in a travel agency, had gone to JHV mall with his uncle Ramesh and some friends on Saturday evening.

Police said after watching the film they took the escalator to the second floor when the boy slipped. They said the second floor, where the escalator ends, does not have any side railing as the law mandates.

nu’s uncle took the boy to hospital but doctors declared him “brought dead”.

DSP robbed

Noida (PTI): Thieves on Saturday broke into the vacant home of a deputy superintendent of police, posted at Badaut, Uttar Pradesh, and stole cash and jewellery. DSP Rafal Singh Tomar’s family lives with him in Badaut.

Barak probe

New Delhi (PTI): The CBI has questioned public service commission chairman Subir Dutta on alleged irregularities in the Rs 1,150-crore Barak missile deal with Israel. Dutta, a former defence secretary, was questioned before the CBI quizzes George Fernandes.