Stranded passengers wait at the Guwahati railway station on Thursday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Kokrajhar/Guwahati, May 24: Thousands of train passengers planning to travel outside Assam and those scheduled to enter the state through Bengal today were left stranded by a 100-hour wheel jam in the Bodo heartland.

Three trains scheduled to leave Guwahati in the morning — Rajdhani Express, North East Express and Guwahati-Secunderbad Express — made delayed starts after 4 pm without any guarantee from Northeast Frontier Railway that they would be able to cross the protest zone.

Chief public relations officer T. Rabha said the trains would be detained, if necessary, “at stations where passengers can buy food and other essential items”.

Not a very comforting assurance, but those who needed to travel did so despite the risks involved.

Hundreds of former militants of the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) blocked rail tracks and roads across the Bodo belt in protest against the murder of one of their mates. Militants of the National Democratic Front of Boroland allegedly killed the former BLT cadre, Montu Basumatary, along with three other youths on Sunday night.

The agitation over Basumatary’s killing apparently has the blessings of the Bodoland Territorial Council, which administers four contiguous districts of the Bodo belt. The BLT’s former chief, Hagrama Mohilary, heads the BTC and his party is also the Congress’s partner in the government.

Mohilary participated in a rally at Dispur Last Gate to pressure the government into revoking the ceasefire agreement with the NDFB. He was also one of the signatories in a memorandum handed to chief minister Tarun Gogoi by the Ex-BLT Welfare Society, Kokrajhar. “If the blockade continues, we will have no option but to cancel many trains. Two trains — Manas Rhino and New Jalpaiguri Express — have already been cancelled,” Rabha said.

The 2345 Up Saraighat Express was halted at Fakiragram, Inter City Sifung passenger train at Kokrajhar, 4056 Up Brahmaputra Mail at New Alipurduar, 5959 Up Kamrup at New Cooch Behar and the 3247 Down Danapur Capital Express at New Bongaigaon.

Groups of protesters disrupted rail traffic at Kokrajhar, Basugaon and Bijni railway stations since morning. Activists of the Ex-BLT Welfare Society, Kokrajhar, also fanned out to Gossaigaon and Karigaon in Kokrajhar district, Samtaibari, Chapaguri, Bijni in Chirang and Dudnoi in Goalpara district to block vehicles entering Assam from Bengal via Srirampur and Buxirhat.

Sources said rows of heavy vehicles were stranded on national highways 31 and 31 (B) since 5 am.

The Kokrajhar district administration did clear the rail track by arresting the protesters around 4 pm, but the fact that they were released later meant that the relief was only temporary. The first train to pass Kokrajhar was the Inter City Sifung passenger train, followed by the Up Saraighat Express.

A power failure triggered by a storm compounded the woes of passengers who remained stranded at Kokrajhar railway station.

Jana Mohan Mushahary, president of the Kokrajhar-based Ex-BLT Welfare Society, declared that the blockade would continue despite the chief minister inviting a delegation for a meeting on May 28 and 29 to discuss the issues raised in the memorandum.

Health minister Hemanta Biswa Sarma received the memorandum on the chief minister’s behalf and announced ex gratia of Rs 3 lakh to the families of each of the four Bodo youths killed in Sonitpur on Sunday and former BTC executive member Badan Hasda, shot dead by the Adivasi Cobra Militants of Assam recently.