Killings disrupts work on India northeast highway

By Biswajyoti Das

GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - Contractors have stopped work on two major federally funded road and railways projects in India's northeast after rebels killed a dozen labourers over the weekend.

More than 4,000 workers hired by 16 private construction firms in insurgency-hit northeastern Assam state have decided to withdraw from construction sites fearing fresh rebel attacks from tribal militants demanding autonomy in the region.

"It is true tension is there. Workers don't want to work and we can't force them to work," Dilip Bora, a spokesman of the Northeast Frontier Railways, told Reuters on Thursday.

Tribal insurgents killed 11 railway workers in Assam on Sunday.

On Thursday, militants attacked and killed 11 people, including a train driver and 10 cement factory workers, police said.

India's northeast, comprising eight states, has suffered separatist and tribal insurgencies for the past 60 years, as militant groups accuse New Delhi of plundering the region's mineral and forest resources, but investing little in return.

The region is home to more than 200 tribes and ethnic groups.

India is building a four-lane highway through the troubled North Cachar Hills district, linking Assam with the rest of India as part the Golden Quadrilateral project aimed at connecting the country's cities and ports.