Rly workers call halt

Railway authorities have suspended construction of the Qazigund-Baramulla project that links Kashmir with the rest of the country after protests by employees over the killing of an engineer and his brother.

Officials of the Northern Railway met CM Mufti Md Sayeed, police, Army and senior administrative officials to ensure adequate security on the 120-km stretch that runs through many sensitive villages and secluded paddy fields. Mufti is said to have assured them that security would be reviewed and deployment beefed up.

Northern Railways8217; chief administrative officer Rakesh Chopra and director works Ankush Krishan are hopeful of resuming work soon. 8216;8216;The killing of the engineer has definitely affected the project and we have temporarily called off work for precautionary measures. We will resume work after adequate security is ensured,8217;8217; Chopra said. The entire staff of the project, including site engineers, he said, are scared will resume work once security improves.