Bus attack survivors blame govt, transporter, militants equally for ...

Tag : Bus
Bus attack survivors blame govt, transporter, militants equally forincident
The Imphal Free Press

IMPHAL, Nov 2: The survivors of the ill-fated Imphal-Guwahati nightsuper bus of the Imphal Airbus Travel which was burnt down bymilitant cadres at Naorijan in Assam on October 23 narrated theirordeal during the fearful incident this afternoon at a pressconference at the Langol Tarung in Imphal.
Thangjam Madhop Singh, one of the passengers of the bus, observedthat the burning down of the passenger bus from Manipur at Naorijanby cadres of the KLA was not aimed at a particular community butwas an intentional attempt to kill all passengers inside the bus asthe transporters had failed to meet their monetary demand.
He further said it was negligence on the part of both thetransporters and the outfit to have failed to give any kind ofwarning to the passengers on the danger from the militant group.The incident was a display of terror from the militant group whichthe people of the state would never forget, he added.
He said the passenger bus was frequently interrupted by unnecessarystoppage along the highways in the name of waiting for passengersand the bus was parked for more than 30 minutes at the spot beforeit was burned down by the KLA militants. Many of the injuredpassengers and the families of those who lost their lives in thefire are still in disappointment over the lack of concern for themshown by the state government and the transporter even many daysafter the incident.
Another survivor named Ratan, recounting his ordeal, said that aserious crime had been committed by the KLA by burning down apassenger bus occupied fully by innocent passengers and theincident would never be forgotten by the survivors from differentcommunities who were travelling in the bus.
Those who barely survived after struggling for their lives insidethe bus when it was engulfed by flames were asking what kind ofrevolutionary struggle the KLA was forwarding by killing innocentpersons for the sake of money, he said while stating that it wasshocking to see the government remaining silent although theconcerned militant group had openly claimed responsibility throughthe media.
He, on the other hand, expressed his sincere gratitude to RDuidang, commandant of the 78 Bn CRPF posted at Zub Zab, for hissincere efforts in effecting the rescue works after the incident.
In the meantime, the families of deceased Robert Golmei andJinthailiu Gangmei who were also present during the pressconference expressed their disappointment with both the stategovernment and the concerned transporter for their failure toapproach the families for making necessary compensation andreimbursement of lost materials.
The families also stated that the clarifications given over theincident involving the KLA was not justified as the provocativeclarifications from the KLA after killing the innocent passengersfor the sake of money was condemnable and necessary action shouldbe taken against the KLA.
In the meantime, president of the Rangmei Lu Phuam, Panti Golmeiduring the press conference disclosed that the Rongmei Women