Railways records loss of ₹90 cr in protests across North-east

NEW DELHI: Indian Railways has incurred a loss of ~90 crore in the North-east because of damage its trains and facilities suffered during violent protests against the passage of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, railway officials said.

The law, which seeks to give citizenship to members of religious minorities suffering persecution in three neighbouring, Muslim-majority countries – Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan -- has incited strife in the Northeast, where social groups have for long demanded safeguards to preserve the region’s distinct cultural identity. Many protestors have contended that a potential influx of refugees could dilute the region’s ethnic identity.

Angry mobs have vandalized trains and railway stations in the region in the aftermath of the passage of the Act. A railway station in Chabua town of Assam’s Dibrugarh district, the hometown of chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, was set on fire by protesters on December 11. The Panitola railway station in Tinsukia district was also torched on the same day.

So far, about 40 major trains along the three divisions have been suspended. Rail services have been completely suspended in Tinsukhia, Lumding and in the Rangiya division of the Northeast Frontier Railways. Beyond Guwahati, passenger train operations were terminated.

On the Eastern Railways, the national transporter has incurred losses worth ~72.19 crore due to property damage, ~12.75 crore along South Eastern Railways and ~2.98 crore on

North Eastern Frontier Railways.As many as 85 FIRs have been registered cases for destruction of property, trespassing and other criminal cases. Of these, 57 are under the Railway Protection Force (RPF).

“There are people who have been identified though the videos of the violence and we have registered FIRs against them. Around a dozen railway employees have been injured,” said Arun Kumar, the director general of the Railway Protection Force (RPF).

Railway operations were the worst affected in West Bengal, he said. In view of the protests,the Railways has deployed an additional 2,200 men of its reserve forces along its North Eastern zones.