One of the trucks set on fire. Picture by Sarat Sarma

May 15: Militants hijacked five cement-laden trucks, lined up the five drivers and their five helpers, and gunned them down in a village in Assam’s North Cachar Hills district this morning.

Ten minutes earlier, around 6.35am, another rebel squad had fired on a two-coach patrol train between the Mupa and Kalachand stations in the same district, killing driver N.N. Bora and injuring three.

Both groups are suspected to be from the Jewel Gorlosa faction of the Dima Halam Daoga, fighting for Dimacha statehood.

Northeast Frontier Railway suspended services between Lumding and Badarpur — several kilometres either side of the attack spot — and used two special trains to evacuate all its employees who live in the stretch.

The rebels stopped the Vinay Cement Ltd trucks and took them 1km away to Krumgminglangsu village, about 270km southeast of Guwahati. Sarthe Rongpi, a villager, said the 10 men were shot in front of his hut.

“Two of the victims ran towards our house and tried to climb the fence, almost bringing it down. But they were caught and shot. The trucks were torched.”

The train from Lumding was sprayed with bullets from the hilltops as it emerged out of a tunnel. Driver Bora immediately stopped and reversed it, saving the lives of his 34 passengers — three engineers, 20 engineering staff, a permanent way inspector and 10 railway police personnel.

The militants climbed down and fired again, killing Bora and injuring his assistant P.K. Deb, gangman Ramesh Thakuria and a constable. About 400 employees and their families went on the rampage at Lumding station in protest, damaging offices, the officers’ rest house and 10 vehicles.