May 30 : Two huts were burnt and a woman killed in Phoiding village near Haflong this morning in the continuing cycle of ethnic violence in North Cachar Hills.
The raid on the Dimasa village came a day after two Zeme Naga boys were killed and 16 cottages were set ablaze at Mabao village by an armed group yesterday.
Six persons descended on Phoiding around 11 this morning and began setting the huts on fire. The group also fired indiscriminately from automatic weapons, killing Noham Dibragede, 48, and injuring Lomi Kemprai, 50.
Villagers had deserted the 40-odd cottages atop the hill some 35km from Haflong and shifted to a relief centre.
“But they (the villagers) keep coming back to check their homes and that was when a few women got caught in the attack”.
Though ethnic flames continued to rage near Haflong, the district railway division found a reason for cheer.
A goods train moved out of Lumding for Badarpur for the first time since services were suspended on May 22 following an attack on a train in Maibong subdivision by suspected militants of the DHD(J). The train had 18 rakes, including three compartments carrying security troops.
