press trust of india
Diphu/Kokrajhar, 2 August
With the Army on a flag march in Assam, the rubber estate and a house of a Congress MP were set ablaze, while four people were injured in police firing, as the demand for separate states on the lines of Telangana by several groups was stepped up today.
The Army staged a flag march in violence-hit Karbi Anglong district in the afternoon after being called in by the civil administration, official sources said.
Train services across the state were affected by a 12-hour rail blockade called by different Bodo organisations to demand a separate Bodoland.
 Protesters removed six kilometre of railway tracks in the Diphu-Lumding section, but it was restored later though train services were yet to resume.
The MP Biren Singh Engti’s rubber garden and house, about seven kilometre from Diphu, was set on fire by miscreants who also felled trees, the sources said.
There was no casualty as there was nobody in the house of the Congress MP, who represents the Autonomous Hill district constituency, at the time.
Police opened fire in the district to disperse a mob in which four people were injured with the condition of two stated to be critical, the sources said.
At Donkamakom in Hamrem sub-division a mob ransacked a police outpost and attacked policemen demanding the release of seven arrested youths, they said.
Assam IGP (Law and Order), Mr S N Singh who held a meeting at Diphu to take stock of the prevailing situation, told reporters that five additional companies of security forces were expected to arrive soon while two companies were deployed.
Mr Singh said preventive arrests were being made to bring the situation under control and to prevent further violence. The President of Karbi Students’ Association, Mr Laiseng Engleng was arrested for inciting violence.
Seven others were arrested from Dokmoka area taking the total number of arrests to 18 since the outbreak of violence in the hill district.
Parliamentary Secretary (Home), Mr Etuwa Munda rushed to the district with an appeal to the people to maintain peace and not to damage government property.
The All Bodo Student’s Union along with NDFB (Progressive), the All Bodo Womens’ Federation, other bodies participated.