January 1
|
Assam Chief Minister,
Tarun Gogoi, announces a safe-passage offer for all the United
Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)
cadres from January 7 to 20.
ULFA ‘chairman’ Arabinda
Rajkhowa rules out holding direct peace talks with New Delhi unless
the Government released some of their senior jailed leaders. He
said, “A large number of our central executive committee leaders
are currently in jail. We cannot take a final decision on holding
talks with the government in the absence of majority of our senior
leaders who are imprisoned.”
|
January 2
|
ULFA ‘chairman’,
Arabinda Rajkhowa, in the outfit’s mouthpiece Freedom, reacting
to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s announcement of a safe passage
for the outfit’s cadres during the Bihu festivities said that
the Union Government is playing a ‘dangerous game’ by “talking
of peace and unleashing the armed forces on its unsuspecting cadre
at the same time”.
|
January 9
|
‘Publicity secretary'
of the United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS),
Tongeeh Nongloda, is arrested from Dilai in the Karbi Anglong
district for reportedly carrying one 9mm pistol.
|
January 11
|
Karbi Anglong district
police releases arrested UPDS 'publicity secretary', Tongeeh Nongloda,
and two other cadres.
|
January 12
|
Suspected ULFA cadres
attack a Royal Bhutanese Army (RBA) patrol and kill an army guide
near village Gerwa in the southern district of Samdrup Jongkhar
of Bhutan bordering Assam.
|
January 15
|
Oil and Natural Gas
Commission intimates the State Government of an extortion letter
served by the 28th battalion of the ULFA on its corporate office
at Nazira in the Sibsagar district demanding Rupees 5000 million.
The ULFA, in a statement
says, “The outfit expects sincere interest and commitment from
the Government of India for establishing lasting peace in Assam
instead of any enticement of safe passage or general amnesty.
The puppet Assam Government is trying to grasp political advantage
by selling old wine in new bottles by sidetracking the core demand
for the peace process."
|
January 16
|
A ULFA militant is
killed in an encounter with the police at Santipur in the Tinsukia
district.
Hindi-speaking villagers,
under the banner of the Assam Bhojpuri Yuba Chhatra Parishad,
seek protection of the State Government from the extortion drive
by the NDFB militants
who allegedly had distributed demand notes, ranging from Rupees
30,000 to Rupees 50,000, signed by a self-styled "collection-in-charge"
Lt. D. Dethsrang, along the border of Nagaon and Karbi Anglong
districts.
|
January 17
|
The UPDS decides
to drop the autonomous statehood demand in exchange for additional
financial, legal and political powers to the existing autonomous
council. The outfit’s ‘general secretary’ Saiding Eh states that
the outfit would seek direct funding from all the Union Ministries
and non-interference of the State Government in the council’s
activities during the next round of talks with the Union Government
slated for the January 2006.
Assam Government
entrusts Inspector general of Police (IGP-Special Branch) Khagen
Sarma to verify the authenticity of the ULFA extortion note served
on the ONGC.
|
January 18
|
All Adivasi National
Liberation Army militants kill a civilian, Keshob Rana, of Kachamari
Hridimbapur village under Merapani police station in the Golaghat
district.
Assam Inspector General
of Police (Special Branch) Khagen Sarma confirms that the extortion
letter demanding Rupees 5000 million from the ONGC was served
by the ULFA.
ULFA backed People’s
Consultative Group (PCG) expresses disappointment over the lack
of momentum in the peace process to bring the outfit to the negotiation
table.
|
January 20
|
Ten persons, including
eight CISF personnel, are injured in an ULFA triggered grenade
attack at the entrance of the Guwahati Refinery at Noonmati in
Guwahati city.
Writer Indira Goswami,
who has been facilitating talks between the ULFA and the Union
Government says, "The government is likely to give the date for
the meeting within two days. We are hopeful about the process
being taken to its logical conclusion." She further said, "ULFA
is upset over the delay. But we will continue to make efforts."
|
January 21
|
A trader, Iswar Chand
Jain, is shot dead by ULFA cadres at Sonari in the Sivasagar district.
ULFA cadres trigger
a blast on pipelines of the Oil India Ltd inside Rangali Reserve
Forest under Kakatibari police station in the Sivasagar district.
Superintendent of Police Bishnu Ram Medhi informs that the explosions
have damaged a 400-foot pipeline, besides a gas pipeline running
parallel to the crude oil line causing a gas leak. The ULFA have
set off explosions at the main gate of oil refinery at Guwahati
a day earlier.
The DHD chairman
Dilip Nunisa says that MHA officials have confirmed January 31
as the date for another round of dialogue between the Union Government
and the outfit to be held in New Delhi. The previous round of
dialogue between a DHD delegation and Union Home Minister Shivraj
Patil has been held in New Delhi during June 2005.
The ULFA militants
blow up a NEEPCO power tower at Bhoju in the Sibsagar district.
ULFA militants blow up a transformer at Konwar Gaon near Lakhimpur.
Another transformer is blown up at Hindugaon Tiniali injuring
three SF personnel. Another gas pipeline is blown up by militants
at Mahmora Silgrant, under Namrup police station, in the Dibrugarh
district.
|
January 22
|
A petrol pump owner
is shot dead by suspected ULFA cadres at Sadiya township in the
Tinsukia district.
A gas pipeline is
blown up by the ULFA near Bherbheri under Bordubi police station.
Suspected ULFA cadres also lob a grenade targeting SFs near Gauhati
Commerce College in the Guwahati city injuring five SF personnel.
Within minutes, another grenade is hurled in front of the Assam
Police Reserve at AT Road in the city killing a civilian. Fifteen
minutes later, militants detonate an IED, planted in a requisitioned
bus, injuring three police personnel.
One police personnel,
Sanjay Verma, is killed and five others sustain injuries in an
encounter with ULFA cadres at Ewarlangtha Gorgaon along the Assam-Nagaland
border in the Golaghat district.
Suspected ULFA militants
trigger a blast in the precincts of the Assam State Transport
Corporation building in Jorhat injuring a civilian. Elsewhere,
gas pipelines at Chetiapathar under Chabua police station and
Bokulia Chariali under Duliajan police station are blown up, causing
no casualty. Another gas pipeline, running through Lengri tea
estate under Tengakhat police station in the Dibrugarh district,
is also blown up by the ULFA.
|
January 23
|
A grenade is exploded
by ULFA cadres near the nail factory at Bengenakhowa. Another
hand grenade is exploded by the outfit at Mayong police station
in the Morigaon district. A bomb is detonated by ULFA cadres at
Doomdooma circle office in the Tinsukia district damaging a portion
of the building. An IOC pipeline is also blown up by the outfit
in Tingri Bongaon under Digboi police station. The second round
of talks between the ULFA-backed PCG and the Union Government
is to be held on February 7. Writer Indira Goswami, a member of
the PCG, said, "National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan informed
me today that the talks with the PCG will be held on February
7 and modalities for the parleys will be decided later on."
|
January 24
|
A suspected ULFA
militant is killed and three others are injured in an explosion
in the Ganeshguri locality of Guwahati city. Police sources said
that the ULFA militant, Munin Das hailing from Ghograpar in the
Nalbari district, was carrying the explosive and traveling on
foot to avoid the intensified checking of vehicles by the security
forces.
A bomb is exploded
at Demow Chariali in the Sibsagar district injuring three police
personnel. Another blast is triggered at Japidhara under Kakotibari
police station in the same district without causing any casualty.
|
January 25
|
Assam Governor Ajay
Singh says that the ULFA must first surrender arms and come to
the mainstream, and only then negotiations could follow. "They
would be rehabilitated once they lay down their arms," Singh said
adding: "A militant by taking up arms against the State has gone
against the law, and so he must be treated in the line of law;
he must be brought to book. So the question of negotiation does
not arise unless the militants surrender their arms."
The UPDS 'Publicity
Secretary' Tong-Eeh-Nongloda says that the outfit is hopeful of
a fruitful outcome from its fifth round of talks with the Union
and the State Government at New Delhi on January 31. Nongloda
also blames d the State Government’s lackadaisical attitude in
fulfilling its demand and says, "Therefore, the talks may not
yield any good results."
|
January 27
|
The Assam Government
says that it is ready to release the imprisoned ULFA cadres on
parole if the proscribed group sits for direct talks with the
Union Government with or without accompanied by the PCG.
The PCG says that
its ongoing negotiations with the Union Government may breakdown
if the Government does not come up with a positive response regarding
the release of the jailed and missing ULFA leaders during the
second round of talks scheduled for February 7. PCG member Lachit
Bordoloi says, "We are expecting the Government to make its stand
clear during the second round of talks."
Following militant
attacks on oil installations in the recent times, oil companies
and the Assam Government revive a year 2003 proposal to raise
an exclusive security force to guard the vast network of pipelines
and installations across the State. Officials of oil companies
are scheduled to meet Government representatives on February 3
to work out the modalities of raising the force, which is to be
drawn from the Assam Tea Plantation Security Force.
|
January 28
|
Army personnel begin
an operation targeting the ULFA militants at Jeraigaon, native
village of the outfit’s 'commander-in-chief', Paresh Barua in
the Tinsukia district.
Army personnel, at
the request of the district administration, also take over the
task of providing security to the ONGC installation, assets and
pipelines in the Sibsagar district.
|
February 1
|
The Army calls off
operations targeting the ULFA in the outfit’s chief Paresh Baruah’s
native village, Jeraigaon, in the Dibrugarh district following
demands by the villagers. However, army authorities maintain that
the operation is “routine in nature” and is called off only because
“the security think tank felt it had served its purpose”. Residents
of the village on January 31 are reported to have blocked National
Highway 37 and the adjacent rail track and have forced the army
to hand over two arrested youths, one of them the brother of an
ULFA cadre, to the police.
Assam Governor, Lt
Gen (retd) Ajai Singh appeals to the ULFA to come for direct talks
with the Government to expedite the peace process. In his speech
to the State Legislative Assembly, the Governor describes formation
of PCG by the ULFA for talks with the Government as a welcome
step.
The ULFA make it
clear that it is not in favour of holding any secret talks with
the Government of India. In the recent issue of its mouthpiece,
Freedom, the outfit says that it is keen on holding talks at UN
platform in front of the entire world. It expresses its doubts
on Government’s sincerity on the issue of talks and alleges that
a conspiracy is hatched to invite only a small group of the PCG
for talks. It further adds that the guns of the outfit will become
silent only when the conflict between India and Assam head towards
a political solution.
|
February 6
|
Assam Minister of
State for Home, Rockybul Hussain, informs the Legislative Assembly
that the Centre and State Government are of the view that the
Government and the ULFA should come into an agreement to suspend
operations simultaneously to create a congenial atmosphere for
talks. Hussain says that operations by the security forces targeting
the ULFA will be stopped once such an agreement for suspension
of operations is signed. The Minister adds that since the first
meeting with the PCG, as many as 70 subversive activities have
taken place in the State and public properties worth Rs 95,70,300
are damaged. He says that during the period, four Army personnel,
12 civilians and 12 militants were killed. During the same period,
13 ULFA militants and three militants of the MULTA have surrendered.
|
February 7
|
The Union Government
and the PCG agrees, during a meeting at New Delhi, on a series
of CBMs to bring the ULFA to the negotiation table. A joint statement
declares that the Government of India has agreed to examine and
initiate a series of CBMs with regard to human rights violations
and to examine the release of detained ULFA leaders in consultation
with the State Government. PCG member Arup Borbora says, "We discussed
with the government representatives all the issues in a positive
atmosphere. We want to pave the way to bring both sides to the
negotiating table."
The NDFB refuses
to begin peace talks unless the Union Government provides information
about the whereabouts of seven senior members missing during Operation
All Clear in Bhutan in December 2003. The outfit’s 'commander-in-chief'
Ranjan Daimary alias D.R. Nabla says, "Delhi has to prove its
sincerity by providing information on the seven leaders". The
missing militants include the outfit’s 'publicity secretary' B.
Erakdao, B. Habrang, B. Fwjoukhang, Jwkhrub, Derhasa, Onsula and
Udla.
|
February 10
|
Eight civilians and
one SF personnel are killed during clashes between the villagers
and SFs following the alleged custodial death of a suspected United
ULFA militant at Kakopathar in upper Assam's Tinsukia district.
The ULFA cadre, whom the villagers described as a civilian, was
detained by the army on February 6 and his dead body is subsequently
recovered.
|
February 11
|
The representatives
of the ULFA-supported PCG threaten to pull out of the peace talks
with the Union Government protesting against the killing of civilians.
“We have told the Indian government in clear terms that we will
pull out of the talks if security forces continue with their operations
resulting in excesses on the common people," Dilip Patgiri, a
senior PCG member says.
|
February 13
|
Normal life was affected
in Assam following a 12-hour bandh (general strike) called by
the ULFA to protest against the killing of nine persons in police
firing and death of Ajit Mahanta in Army custody at Kakopathar
in the Tinsukia district.
|
February 14
|
Suspected BNLF cadres
from the Cachar district abduct three truck drivers.
|
February 17
|
KLNLF releases three
hostages, R.K. Chaudhury, Ramen Das and Bimal Das, it has been
holding since January 22, somewhere near the Kaziranga National
Park.
|
February 21
|
Armed ULFA cadres
assault four villagers and abduct an Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)
activist, Brikudhar Doley, from his residence at Kemi-Jelom village
under Poba Reserve Forest in the Dhemaji district recently.
|
February 22
|
Assam Government
urges the Defence Ministry to restrain the Army from operating
against the ULFA and to take along civil administration officials
while conducting operations in the State.
|
February 23
|
A school-teacher
is killed in an exchange of fire between cadres of the HPC-D and
DHD in the North Cachar Hills district.
|
February 28
|
Suspected ULFA cadres
trigger a blast at the BG Yard near Bamunimaidan in Guwahati city
killing one civilian and injuring five others, including a woman.
The blast, reportedly caused by a timed explosive device, occurs
near the open shed in the railway unloading area.
|
March 7
|
Mediator Indira Goswami
said that the third round of talks between the ULFA-constituted
People’s Consultative Group and the Union Government would be
held only after the legislative assembly elections in Assam slated
for April 3 and 10.
|
March 9
|
The Guwahati police
put several businessmen in the city under their scanner accusing
them of contributing huge amounts to the ULFA though electronic
money transfer facility.
|
March 16
|
Ten armed cadres
of the Barak Valley Youth Liberation Front comprising landless
Reang tribals and suspected Bangladeshi nationals attack a village
in the Hailakandi district of Assam along the Mizoram border looting
Rupees 17,000 from a trader, Abdul Manaf, and injuring a villager,
Lalu Mian.
|
March 17
|
A SULFA cadre, identified
as Binod Baishya alias Jit Kalita, is shot dead by suspected ULFA
militants at Ghograpar in the Nalbari district.
|
March 18
|
A woman, identified
as S. Begum, is killed and 10 persons are injured in a ULFA triggered
bomb blast near the railway track at the Bamunimaidan rail yard
in Guwahati.
Assam Chief Minister
Tarun Gogoi said that infiltration from Bangladesh has gone down
significantly in the past four years. He also denied knowledge
of a statement made by the Union Minister of State for Home, S.
Reghupathy, in the Lower House of Parliament (Lok Sabha) in December
2005 that over 38,000 Bangladeshi infiltrators had been deported
from Assam in 2004.
|
March 21
|
Nine Bangladeshi
infiltrators are arrested from Guwahati.
|
March 28
|
The North Cachar
Hills district police recover three rocket launcher shells, two
pistols, nine magazines, one revolver and an unspecified amount
of ammunition from a married couple, Afhringdaw and Dipali Warisa,
linked to the Jewel Garlossa faction of the DHD.
|
March 29
|
The police recover
four grenades, an AK series rifle, 30 rounds of live ammunition,
a magazine, a 9-V battery, some electronic gadgets and incriminating
documents following an encounter with suspected ULFA militants
at Satakona under Dudhnoi police station in the Goalpara district.
|
March 30
|
DHD militants belonging
to the Jewel Garlossa faction kill a worker engaged by a railway
contractor and injure another at Retzole in the North Cachar Hills
district.
|
March 31
|
Three ULFA cadres
and one from the KLNLF surrender to the army at Diphu in the Karbi
Anglong district along with an AK 47 rifle, two magazines, 67
rounds of cartridges, four hand grenades, one country-made revolver,
one grenade and some detonators.
The ULFA chief, Arabinda
Rajkhowa, says, “The people should only vote for politics that
would ensure sovereignty for Asom.”
|
April 1
|
Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh said that the process initiated by the Union Government
to restore peace in Assam would be expedited, but rules out talks
with the ULFA on the "sovereignty" issue.
|
April 4
|
A ULFA militant, Bhubaneswar Haloi,
surrenders before the army personnel near Bihuguri in the Sonitpur
district.
|
April 7
|
ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa,
in his speech on the occasion of the outfit's '27th raising day',
says that groups with "vested interests" are trying
to scuttle the peace process by killing its cadres, hoping this
will provoke it to walk out of the peace process. He further says
that ULFA's decision not to disrupt the polls must not be construed
as an acceptance of the electoral process. "As long as these
elections are held, Assam will remain suppressed under Indian
colonial rule", he said.
|
April 8
|
CRPF personnel arrest a retired constable
of the 7th Nagaland Armed Police Battalion, identified as Ezathung
Lotha, and recover 30 kilograms of RDX, 200 detonators and 200
metres of corbex wire from at Khatkhati under Bokajan police station
in the Karbi Anglong district.
|
April 10
|
The UPDS 'defence secretary', Thong
Teron, is killed at Satgaon under the Dongkamokam police outpost
in the Karbi Anglong district by the security personnel of Sing
Teron, an executive member of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council,
during an exchange of fire. Subsequently, the UPDS militants killed
two persons in retaliation in the Tongkory area of the district.
|
April 21
|
Unidentified assailants killed two
surrendered ULFA militants, Lolit Moran and his wife Momi Moran,
at Gotong village under Doomdooma police station in the Tinsukia
district.
|
April 22
|
Eight NDFB cadres, who were arrested
from Guwahati in the Kamrup district, confessed during interrogation
of their involvement in extortion from the State officials.
|
April 24
|
The Jorhat district administration
decides to evict from New Chungtia at the Desoi Valley reserve
forest a fuel depot that is reportedly set up by Nagaland Government.
The Public Works Department chief
engineer, Suren Das, who was abducted and later released by the
ULFA, is in a stage of coma due to cerebral malaria. Das has started
suffering from cerebral malaria while in captivity.
|
April 25
|
A NDFB cadre, B Daithan, is killed
and five other militants are wounded at Sapatgram in the Dhubri
district of lower Assam, when the police retaliated against militants
who were enforcing closure of shops and other business establishments
in the area. The outfit had called for a general strike in protest
against the alleged violation of ceasefire rules by
the State Government.
Villagers at Pulia Basti under Diphu
police station in the Karbi Anglong district lynch a cadre of
the little known outfit, Karbi Peoples Liberation Front,
identified as Amrit Teron, trying to extort ransom, to death.
Three of his accomplices were wounded.
|
April 28
|
The deputy commander-in-chief
of the DHD, identified as Naizing Daulagapu, is shot at and wounded
by suspected militants belonging to the breakaway faction of the
outfit led by Jewel Garlosa at Upper Dibbarai under Haflong police
station in the North Cachar Hills district.
The Union Government asks the Supreme
Court for Special Tribunals in Assam for detection and deportation
of foreigners in view of difficulties faced in identifying the
illegal immigrants due to their ethnic similarities with Bengali
speaking Indians.
|
May 1
|
An Assam Police personnel, Lance
Naik Pulin Bora, is killed in an explosion triggered by suspected
militants at his residence in Kamargaon under Dergaon police station
of the Golaghat district.
|
May 2
|
An unidentified ULFA leader along
with two Delhi-based sex workers, who were arrested from Guwahati
in the Kamrup district, are remanded to ten days of police custody
by a local court.
|
May 6
|
The NDFB threatens that it will indulge
in violence if the Union Government fails to start talks with
the outfit by May 31. The tripartite cease-fire agreement that
has been signed between the Union Government, Assam Government
and the outfit in New Delhi on May 25, 2005, is to lapse on May
31, 2006.
|
May 8
|
The third phase of recruitment for
rehabilitation of the surrendered Bodo militants begins at CRPF
camp in Salakata of the Kokrajhar district.
|
May 9
|
Two security force (SF) personnel,
Rubul Ali and Dhruba Borsaikia, are killed in an ambush by the
ULFA near the Borahibari railway station in the Sivasagar district.
Five persons, including the former State Transport Minister and
senior AGP leader Pradip Hazarika, are wounded in the attack.
Hazarika has figured in ULFA's list of 'conspirators' in the 'secret
killings', the outfit recently claims, that has taken place during
the AGP regime. Twenty five empty shells of AK-47 ammunition are
recovered from the incident site.
The NDFB says peace talks cannot
take place unless the Union Government provides information about
the Bodo militants who have gone missing since 2003-counter insurgency
operation by the Bhutan Government.
|
May 10
|
Two KLNLF cadres, 'corporal' Kolam
Sing Engti and Babu Ram Teron, surrender at Diphu, headquarters
of the Karbi Anglong district. They also deposited two 9 mm pistols
and four rounds of ammunition. According to sources, the KLNLF,
which has been set up in 1999 following the split in UPDS, has
as many as 60 cadres currently.
Five ULFA cadres, 'sergeant major'
Jagadish Mahanta alias Rajesh Sarma, 'corporal' Ameer Hussain
alias Raj Ahmed, Pradeep K. Barman alias Control, Dinesh Sarkar
alias Mithun and Purno Roy alias Purni, surrender before Colonel
M.K. Das and Additional Superintendent of Police Umar Ali at Dhubri
district. They deposit an AK-47 rifle, three 9 mm revolvers and
45 rounds of ammunition.
|
May 14
|
An ULFA cadre, 'corporal' Puspa Borah
alias Sanchar Chetia, who had surrendered along with a pistol,
two magazines, 16 rounds of ammunition and a Chinese hand grenade,
before the Superintendent of Police of the Udalguri district on
May 13, is found dead inside the lock-up of the district police
station. According to police sources, Puspa committed suicide.
|
May 18
|
The Union Government confirms that
the outlawed ULFA has sent to the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
a demand note of Rupees Five billion. The Union Minister of State
for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dinsha Patel, said in the Parliament
that there have been four disruptive incidents by the ULFA resulting
in minor damage to the property of ONGC in the recent past.
|
May 21
|
The 'commander-in-chief' of the Indian
Tiger Force, Jalaluddin Mazumdar, escapes from police custody
at a place in the Cachar district, while the security convoy carrying
him is attacked by villagers. He was reportedly arrested following
the surrender, on the same day, of four cadres of his outfit,
identified as Bhutto, Nizamuddin, Nazmul Hossain and Rajivuddin
Laskar.
|
May 22
|
The dead body of a villager, Babul
Kalita, suspected to have been killed by the NDFB, is recovered
by police from Daudwigami under Harisingha police outpost in the
Udalguri district.
|
May 27
|
The first round of talks between
the Union Government and NDFB is held in New Delhi. Both agree
to extend their cease-fire that was signed on May 25, 2005.
|
May 29
|
Five security force (SF) personnel,
who were abducted by suspected NDFB cadres on May 21 from the
Udalguri district of Assam, are found dead at Belsiri Nala under
Bhairabkunda police outpost in the dense jungle of West Kameng
district of Arunachal Pradesh bordering Assam and Bhutan. A civilian,
Babul Kalita, who was also abducted along with the SF personnel,
was found dead on May 22.
|
May 30
|
Assam Police summons the NDFB cadres
for interrogation following an investigation indicating their
involvement in the abduction and subsequent killing of five security
force (SF) personnel. The five SF personnel were reportedly abducted
from Udalguri district of Assam on May 21, and were later found
dead in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh on May 29.
|
May 31
|
The NSCN-IM, which demanded ransom
from at least 28 non-Naga businessmen from areas of A, B and C
sectors under Dhansiri subdivision in the Golaghat district along
Assam-Nagaland border, has threatened to kill the general secretary
of the All Bodo Students Union, Pitambor Brahma, following his
complaint against the outfit 'issuing' such extortion notice.
|
June 1
|
The Union Government warns to scrap
the extension of cease-fire with the NDFB following its suspected
involvement in the abduction and subsequent killing of six persons
including five SF personnel, along the India-Bhutan border.
|
June 5
|
The ULFA cadres, while targeting
a SULFA cadre, Narayan Das, shot dead another civilian, Dilip
Das, at Sonapur Chowk under Kamalpur police station in the Kamrup
(rural) district.
|
June 7
|
An unidentified NSCN-IM cadre is
killed in an encounter with the Central Reserve Police Force personnel
near Asalu under Maibong police station in the North Cachar Hills
district. The encounter follows abduction of four Dimasa youths
and their subsequent release at the intervention of Zemi Naga
villagers.
The tripartite accord review meeting
between the Union and Assam Governments and the Bodo Territorial
Council is held in New Delhi.
|
June 8
|
The ULFA triggers a series of grenade
explosions, while targeting SF personnel, at various parts of
the State leaving at least 25 persons wounded. While six persons
are injured in a blast at Haiborgaon in the Nagaon district, another
is injured when militants trigger a blast at Islampur Chowk in
the Mangaldoi district.
|
June 9
|
At least five persons, including
a 10-year-old boy and a woman, are killed and 16 persons wounded
in a powerful explosion triggered by the ULFA at Machkowa vegetable
market in the Guwahati city of Kamrup district.
|
June 10
|
Suspected ULFA militants trigger
two blasts in the Guwahati city killing one person and injuring
19 others.
The ULFA denies its hand in the six
bomb blasts in which civilians are injured, but owns up three
blasts on the oil and gas pipelines at Naharkatia, Digboi and
Chabua.
|
June 11
|
A security force personnel, identified
as Bircharan Singh, who was among the three injured in the grenade
attack on a patrolling vehicle at Makum in the Tinsukia district,
succumbs to his injuries.
Suspected ULFA cadres blow up a railway
track between Borhat and Baruahnagar railway stations in the Sibsagar
district. Rail links between Upper Assam and the rest of the country
are snapped for several hours following the blast.
|
June 12
|
Suspected militants trigger a powerful
time device killing one person, identified as Shiv Shankar Verma,
and injuring 11 others at Bazaar Chariali in Digboi of Tinsukia
district.
Another bomb is triggered near an
Army camp on the National Highway 31 at Taraibari in the Goalpara
district.
Indira Goswami, the negotiator representing the ULFA-backed PCG,
cautions that the violence will derail the ongoing peace process.
|
June 13
|
A ULFA cadre, Phulen Nath alias Kamal
Barman alias Pintu Das, is killed in an encounter with the police
at Kamalnagar atop Narakasur Hill under Dispur police station
in the Kamrup district. According to police sources, the slain
militant is involved in the June-9 blast at Machkhowa in the Guwahati
city in which five persons died.
Assam's Director General of Police
D. N. Dutt confirms that the ULFA is involved in all the recent
blasts in the State, following the denial of the outfit of its
involvement.
|
June 14
|
A civilian, Monoj Gogoi, who was
wounded in the June 12 blast triggered by the ULFA at Digboi town
in the Tinsukia district, succumbs to his injuries.
|
June 15
|
The Bokajan police recover from an
interior village in the Karbi Anglong district the dead body of
a KLNLF cadre, Mirjeng Teron alias Bhupen Teron, who was abducted
by at least six UPDS militants from his residence at Japarajan.
Assam Police says that following
the formation of the ULFA - backed People's Consultative Group
on September 8 in 2005, the ULFA militants have triggered off
as many as 52 blasts, majority of those were in late January and
early part of February and again from June 8 to 12 in 2006. The
reports further say that at least 41 civilians are killed and
135 are injured in ULFA's violence since September 8, 2005. During
the same period, the outfit attacked the security force personnel
on 15 occasions in which six are killed, while 41 are injured.
During the same period, the security forces engaged in encounters
with the ULFA cadres on 20 occasions, in which 21 militants are
killed and 48 are arrested. The sources further pointed out that
in the first five and half months of 2006, as many as 29 civilians
are killed, as compared to the death of 20 civilians and injury
of 78 in 2005. The fatality figure among the security personnel
in ULFA's violence in 2005 is six.
Two HNLC cadres, Minit Lang and Tensing
Khngla, are arrested by the BSF personnel near Makamtilla under
Patherkandi block in the Karimganj district while crossing the
India-Bangladesh border.
|
June 16
|
A frontal organization of the ULFA,
Assam Watch, is reportedly operating in the United Kingdom. Mukul
Hazarika is the co-ordinator of the Assam Watch.
The International Federation of Journalists
condemns the ULFA for issuing threats against Assam's media persons
and supports the subsequent calls made by the latter for their
rights to freedom of expression.
|
June 18
|
The dead bodies of
three unidentified persons, belonging to Zemi Naga tribe, who
were abducted on May 8 from Fiding village under Mahur police
station in the North Cachar Hills district, are recovered after
a month at an unspecified place near a rail track.
|
June 19
|
Two suspected HNLC
cadres, Minot and Tensing, are arrested at an unspecified place
under Halidayganj police station in the Dhubri district along
the India-Bangladesh border, while infiltrating.
|
june 20
|
The Zemi Students
Union, Asom (ZSU-A) accuses and condemns the Dilip Nunisa faction
of the DHD for its involvement in the May 8 abduction and subsequent
killing of three Zemi Naga youths in the North Cachar Hills district.
|
June
21 |
The Union Home Secretary
V. K. Duggal, responding to the Assam Government’s recommendation
for the release of three arrested ULFA leaders, rules out any
unilateral action by the Union Government before the next round
of talks with the ULFA backed- People’s Consultative Group scheduled
to be held on June 22 in New Delhi.
|
June
23 |
A student of the
Guwahati University, Rinku Basumatary, wounded in the June 9 ULFA
triggered explosion at Machkhowa in Guwahati city, succumbs to
his injuries.
|
June
25 |
The civilians in
the Daranga area of Baska district capture two NDFB extortionists.
However, three local businessmen are also wounded by the militants
in the incident. A branch of the State Bank of India in the same
locality is closed down following the threat of the NDFB to pay
extortion money of Rupees 500000.
|
June
26 |
Two NDFB cadres,
while extorting from a businessman, are killed in an encounter
with SF personnel at an unspecified place under Dokmoka police
outpost in the Karbi Anglong district.
|
June 28
|
A heavy exchange
of fire between the BSF personnel and its counterpart in Bangladesh,
the BDR, is reported at Harinagar sector in the Cachar district,
following the encroachment and subsequent cultivation of paddy
over 3,000 square feet land, belonging to the Indian territory
and lying across the river Surma, a tributary of the river Barak,
by Bangladeshi nationals with the protection of the BDR.
|
July
1 |
The ULFA expresses
its willingness to hold ‘direct talks’ with the Union Government
at the earliest.
|
July
3 |
A trader, Jagannath
Prasad, is killed, and at least 18 persons are wounded in a grenade
explosion triggered by DHD cadres belonging to Jewel Garlossa
faction at a market place in Haflong town of North Cachar Hills
district.
The Union Government
sanctions construction of a new fencing in a stretch of 76 kilometers
along the international border between India and Bangladesh running
though Assam.
The ULFA serves an extortion note
of Rupees 150 milion to the Regional Director of the Reserve Bank
of India in Guwahati.
|
July
5 |
Suspected NDFB militants
kill two cadres of the erstwhile Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT),
identified as Thanderu Basumatary alias Hargila and Bijoy Basumatary,
at Langhing in the Karbi Anglong district.
The Ramanugger tea
estate in Karbi Anglong district is closed down following abduction
of its assistant manager, N. Bora, from his residence by unidentified
militants.
|
July
6 |
At least a thousand
people belonging to different communities demonstrate in protest
against the July 5 killing of two cadres of the erstwhile Bodo
Liberation Tigers by the NDFB militants, in the Bodo-dominated
north western areas of Karbi Anglong district.
|
July
7 |
Police arrests two
ULFA cadres, Mantu Bezbarua and Gautam Sarania alias Rahul Deka,
and a linkman of the outfit from Birubari locality of the Guwahati
city in connection with the outfit’s extortion demand of INR 15
Lakhs on the Reserve Bank of India regional director Amarendra
Sahu.
The Union Government
refuses to accede to the demand of the ULFA to release five of
its jailed leaders before direct talks with the Government can
begin.
|
July
11 |
Two ULFA cadres,
Pradip Rajbangshi and Mrinal Rajbangshi, are killed in an encounter
with the SFs at Baglamari village in the Nalbari district.
Assam Government
identifies 7,248 foreign nationals between 2001 and March 31,
2006 and of them 74 are deported, says Assam Accord Implementation
Minister Bhumidhar Barman in the Legislative Assembly.
Assam Government
says political dialogue between the ULFA and the Union Government
will become a reality after the outfit nominates its team for
negotiations.
|
July
12 |
The Union Ministry
of External Affairs decides, in view of the security threat, to
scrap the India-Bangladesh passport scheme giving special documents
to residents of the North Eastern States to travel Bangladesh.
|
July
16 |
A ULFA cadre, Pradip
Das, is arrested from Hatigaon area in Guwahati city. Several
incriminating documents and six batteries used in Improvised Explosive
Devices (IEDs) are recovered from his possession.
The AASU, while
demanding stern action against the Islamist fundamentalist organisations
spreading terror in Assam, says that at least 14 fundamentalist
outfits are actively involved in anti-national activities in the
State.
|
July
17 |
The Union Government
warns Assam Government about possible attacks by the Jama'atul
Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) in the State.
According to intelligence sources, these two outfits are planning
to trigger serial blasts, like Mumbai, at railway station platforms,
trains or railway tracks on July 22 and 23.
|
July
18 |
Guwahati City Police
arrests a self-styled ‘commander’ of the MULTA, Nur Islam alias
Lambu, from the Ambari area. Reports add that at least 20 MULTA
cadres have gone from Assam to Bangladesh passing though Meghalaya
for training.
|
July
19 |
The Union Government
asks the ULFA to establish direct contact with the Government
without which, it says, there will be no scope for the proposed
peace process to move forward.
|
July
21 |
The four MULTA militants,
including the self-styled ‘commander’ Nur Islam alias Limbu, arrested
by Assam Police on July 18, confess that at least 20 cadres of
their outfit used Shillong and Lad Rymbai in Jaintia Hills of
Meghalaya as their routes to escape to Bangladesh in recent past.
|
July
25 |
Assam Government
accuses Bangladesh of grabbing land in at least two districts
in the State. Revenue Minister, Bhumidhar Barman, while responding
to a question on this issue in the Legislative Assembly, said
that at least 499.83 acres of land belonging to Assam has been
encroached upon by the neighbouring country, from where migrants
have been infiltrating into the State for decades. Giving a district-wise
break-up of land encroached upon by Bangladesh, the Minister says
299.04 acres of Pallatal tea estate and 11.73 acres of Pramodnagar
tea estate in Karimganj district has been lost. In Dhubri district,
189.06 acres under Mancachar revenue circle has been encroached.
The Union Minister
of State for Home Affairs, S. Raghupathy, informs the Lower House
of the Parliament that available reports and confession of arrested
ULFA cadres indicate links of the outfit with the Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI), the external intelligence agency of Pakistan.
|
July
26 |
An unidentified DHD
cadre belonging to the Jewel Gorlosa faction triggers a grenade
explosion, targeting CRPF personnel, killing three civilians,
including one female child, and injuring three others at a railway
station in Maibong of North Cachar Hills district.
The peace interlocutor
belonging to the People’s Consultative Group, Indira Goswami,
conveys to the Union Home Secretary, V. K. Duggal, refusal of
ULFA to name its representatives for direct peace talks with the
Union Government unless its five arrested leaders are released
ahead of the talks.
|
July
28 |
An unidentified civilian
is killed by ULFA militants at Sadiya in the North Lakimpur district,
while a cadre of the outfit is shot dead in an encounter with
SF personnel inside a hotel at Margherita town in the Tinsukia
district.
Assam Government
sets up a panel to monitor tribunals, constituted under the Foreigners
Act of 1985, to ensure accountability for delays in disposal of
citizenship-related cases. According to Chief Minister, Tarun
Gogoi, at least 1, 00, 000 complaints are pending with 32 tribunals
set up under the act.
|
July
29 |
The Union Government
assures that the land border with Bangladesh, in the Assam sector,
will be totally sealed by December 31, 2006. This was disclosed
by Joint Secretary of Union Home Ministry (Border Management),
B. S. Lele, after a meeting with the representative of Assam Government
and All Assam Students Union on the implementation of the Assam
Accord. Stating that there is "no dispute" along the Bangladesh
border, Lele said about 3000 acres of land are in "adverse possesion"
(illegal possession). He also said the border in the Assam sector
will be totally sealed after a 43 km stretch is developed.
|
July
30 |
Two DHD cadres, identified
as V. Dimasa and Ithang Dimasa, are arrested from Silchar town
in the Cachar district.
|
July 31
|
Four ULFA cadres are shot dead in two separate
encounters with SF personnel in the Nalbari district. While two
militants, Bhupen Lahkar and Hemanta Deka, are killed at Arora
village, two others, including one identified as Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya
alias Kaushik Sarma, are shot dead at Dhaniagog village on the
banks of the river Pagladia.
An ULFA leader, Mridul Hazarika alias Bhaskar
Barua, who was a prime accused in the Sanjoy Ghosh murder case
of 1997, is shot dead by police personnel in an encounter at Khanakrishnapur
village under Gogamukh police station in the Dhemaji district.
|
August 1
|
A hardcore United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)
cadre, ‘sergeant major’ Rajen Dutta, is killed during an encounter
with the SF personnel at Tamulbari in the Dibrugarh district.
An AK-47 rifle, a mobile phone, three SIM cards and cash worth
INR 1,000 are recovered from the incident site.
|
August 2
|
The ULFA-backed People's Consultative Group (PCG)
threatens to pull out of negotiations with the Union Government
in the wake of recent killing of several ULFA cadres by the SFs
in the State.
The NDFB threatens to pull out of the cease-fire
with the Union Government, accusing SFs of targeting its cadres
without any provocation.
|
August 3
|
The National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan
informs the peace interlocutor Indira Goswami that the Union Government
is seeking a formal letter from the outlawed ULFA for the release
of its five arrested leaders as well as for direct peace talks.
|
August 4
|
A grenade is triggered by ULFA cadres, targeting
a security convoy, killing one security force personnel, Manoj
Kumar, and injuring two others at Dhelakhat in the Tinsukia district.
|
August 5
|
At least 15 persons are injured, six of them seriously,
when suspected ULFA militants trigger a grenade blast at Jonai
in Dhemaji district.
|
August 6
|
Two unidentified ULFA militants are killed when
a grenade, they were carrying, exploded at Mission Chariali near
Defence Theater in the Tezpur district. Several persons are also
wounded in the explosion.
Eight paramilitary force personnel are wounded
when suspected ULFA militants hurl a grenade at a Central Reserve
Police Force patrol party near Bhojo railway station under Charaideo
subdivision in the Sivasagar district. Assam Chief Minister Tarun
Gogoi, while speaking about early direct peace talks with the
ULFA, says the killing of innocent civilians has to be stopped
first as “it was not a one-way traffic.”
He mentions that no positive signal has come
from the ULFA so far, by saying, “Reports of extortion and killing
are still pouring in from various parts of the State, and this
cannot be seen as a positive indication.”
A ULFA militant, Sundar Chetia, who is arrested
from the Tinsukia district, confesses during interrogation that
he has been extorting money ranging from Rupees 50,000 to Rupees
1 00, 000 annually for the past three years and sending them to
Ujjwal Gohain, ‘finance controller of the 28 battalion’ of the
outfit.
|
August 7
|
An unidentified person is killed and 15 others,
including four Central Reserve Police Force personnel and a child,
are injured when ULFA militants explode a grenade at Digboi Chariali
in the Tinsukia district.
Four persons are wounded in a grenade blast triggered
by suspected militants belonging to the anti-talks Jewel faction
of the DHD at Mahur market in the North Cachar Hills district.
|
August 8
|
At least four new training camps of the ULFA are
reportedly found along the India-Bhutan border in the Nalbari
district.
|
August 9
|
The Assam Tai Ahom Students Union, one of the
most influential groups constituting the People’s Committee for
Peace Initiatives in Assam, sets August 20 as the deadline for
the ULFA leadership to own responsibility and publicly apologise
for the killing of innocents.
|
August 10
|
Two Indian women, Shanta Dey and Sabita Dey, and
five personnel of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) are killed in a
two-day long gun battle between the BDR and Border Security Force
(BSF) at village Harinagar and Kinokhal in the Cachar district
along the India-Bangladesh border. According to BSF sources, BDR
personnel open unprovoked firing at the BSF personnel who retaliate.
"They opened unprovoked and heavy volume of fire
using Universal Machine Guns, Heavy Machine Guns, rifles", says
Inspector General of BSF, S. K. Datta.
The Union Government accuses the NDFB for delaying
the peace talks.
|
August 11
|
At least six police personnel are
killed after suspected ULFA militants ambush a police convoy at
Ratanipathar under Pengeri police station in the Tinsukia district.
While five personnel are killed
at the incident site, another succumbs to injuries in the Assam
Medical College Hospital. The Bhutanese Army Chief Maj. Gen.
Batoo Tshering and his Indian counterpart
Gen J J Singh along with senior Indian and Bhutanese Commanders
hold high level meetings in New Delhi to review the situation
along the international border in the backdrop of reports that
the militant outfit ULFA was attempting to reactivate its training
camps located there.
|
August
12 |
A
woman, Jongli Devi, is killed and eight persons wounded in a grenade
explosion, suspected to have been triggered by the ULFA, at Bamunimaidan
locality in Guwahati. |
August
13 |
The Union Government decides to halt
all operations by security forces against the ULFA for a few days.
Union Home Secretary V. K. Duggal said: “We have advised army
and other security forces in Assam to suspend their operations
against ULFA for a few days.” He added, “However, this does not
mean that if they resort to any misadventure that will not be
replied back. Appropriate action will be taken.” The decision
comes days ahead of a crucial meeting between the representatives
of the Union Government and mediators appointed by the outfit
in New Delhi to discuss modalities for initiation of direct peace
talks.
The ULFA has set up three camps in
the Sandrup Jhongkar district of Bhutan, after its cadres were
driven out by a counter–insurgency operation in December 2003.
According to the report, Hira Sarania, a top leader believed to
be close to the outfit’s ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh Barua, is
heading the cadres operating from these camps.
|
August
14 |
Three persons, including a woman
and her son, are killed and seven others sustain injuries when
suspected ULFA militants triggered a grenade explosion targeting
security convoys near Lifecare Nursing Home at Duliajan town in
the Dibrugarh district.
A grenade explosion occurs at Makum
Petrol Depot in the Tinsukia district.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi,
while asking the ULFA to abjure violence and extremism, says that
difficult issues can be resolved only through dialogue and negotiations.
He mentions that the Union Government is doing its best to create
an atmosphere where direct talks can be held with the outfit.
“Peace and progress is the need of the hour, without which commerce,
industry or trade can never take root in the State. Terror and
violence must be removed if problems like lack of development
and unemployment are to be resolved,” said Gogoi.
At least 325 Bengali Tiger Force
cadres led by its chief, Subhash Chandra Sarkar, surrender before
Chief Minister Gogoi in Guwahati city.
|
August
15 |
In
a joint statement, the KLO, MPLF, NLFT, TPDF and ULFA call upon
the people of the North East region to boycott the Independence
Day celebration and also jointly call a 12-hour general strike.
|
August
17 |
The
Inspector General of Border Security Force (BSF) of Assam, Meghalaya,
Manipur and Nagaland Frontier, Jyoti Prakash Sinha, says that Pakistani
and Bangladeshi elements are still at work to create a ‘greater
Bangladesh’ carved out of Assam and West Bengal. He adds that the
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan along with the Directorate
General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) of Bangladesh is instigating
youth in India to achieve their goal. The outfits involved in this
nefarious design are Harkat-ul-Jehad-Al-Islami, JMB and SIMI, he
stated. |
August
19 |
The
ULFA denies that it had declared a unilateral cease-fire. The outfit’s
‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa says that the ULFA will exercise ‘restraint’
in response to the Union Government’s suspension of security operations
against its cadres. |
August
20 |
An
internecine clash among DHD cadres belonging to the Jewel Garlossa
faction occurs at Lanfer village under Kheroni police station in
the Hamren sub-division of Karbi Anglong district, following the
escape of five cadres of the outfit from its camp in North Cachar
Hills. |
August
21 |
The All Assam Tai-Ahom Students Union
pulls out of the People’s Committee for Peace Initiatives in Assam,
following the expiry of the deadline set by it for ULFA to own
responsibility and apologise for the killings of innocent civilians.
The Union Government asks the ULFA
backed-PCG members to stand for personal guarantee for the release
of five arrested leaders of the ULFA.
|
August
22 |
The
Asom Satra Mahasabha is to meet President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to appeal for action against encroachment
of Bangladeshi nationals on satras (monasteries that propagate neo-Vaishnavism),
including the ones at Majuli. |
August
23 |
Peace
talks between the Union Government and ULFA backed-PCG is held to
discuss modalities for the initiation of direct negotiations with
the ULFA. While the National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan and
officials from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs represent the
Government, the PCG is represented by Indira Goswami and Rebati
Phukan. |
August
23 |
The
Union Government decides to extend the suspension of counter-insurgency
operations against the ULFA by 15 days. A decision to this effect
was taken at the meeting between the Government and the ULFA-backed
PCG to decide modalities for direct negotiation with the outfit.
"As of now, we have decided to extend the suspension of the army
operations against ULFA for 15 days," informed Union Home Secretary
V. K. Duggal. |
August
24 |
Union
Government seeks a written assurance from the ULFA to come for peace
talks as a condition for the release of its five arrested leaders.
The Government asks the outfit to announce its team for negotiations
and to specify a timeframe to start direct talks. However, the outfit
rejects such conditions set by the Government. |
August
25 |
Assam
Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, says that the State Government will
do “whatever is necessary” to facilitate direct peace talks between
the Union Government and banned ULFA. “The State Government is in
favour of direct talks with the ULFA. We will play the role of facilitator
and do whatever is necessary and possible for bringing ULFA to the
negotiating table,” says Gogoi. |
August
28 |
The
Border Security Force demands deportation of ULFA ‘general secretary’
Anup Chetia, and other leaders from Bangladesh at the bi-annual
meeting with the Bangladesh Rifles in Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya.
|
August
30 |
Union
Home Secretary V. K. Duggal says that the Union Government is expecting
a response from the ULFA, before the suspension of counter-insurgency
operation expires on September 5. “They have time until September
5 and we expect a response before that,” said Duggal. |
August 31
|
The ULFA in a communiqué assures the Union Government
that five of its jailed leaders will not abscond, once they are
released. A letter written by ULFA ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh
Barua is delivered to Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal by mediator
Indira Goswami.
|
September 1
|
The railway construction work between Lumding
and Silchar through North Cachar Hills is affected, as contractors
decide to suspend construction work due to extortion threat by
militant outfits.
The BSF’s Inspector General of Assam, Meghalaya,
Manipur Frontier, J. P. Sinha, said: “We have specific inputs
that the youths from Asom have been taken to Bangladesh for training
and other jihadi activities only to be sent back to Asom. These
youths are not few in numbers and they are being taken by agents
working for the ISI and the DGFI of Bangladesh.”
A new militant outfit, United Democratic Liberation
Army (UDLA), has started operating in the Karimganj and Hailakandi
districts of south Assam. According to police sources, the outfit
is involved in at least four incidents of abduction in the Hailakandi
district during the past four months. Reports added about the
involvement of the outfit in extortion from farmers, teachers,
traders and Government officials living in rural areas in the
Karimganj and Hailakandi districts.
|
September 2
|
At least eight explosives devices, planted by
unidentified militants targeting the Haflong-Jiribam power line
of 132 KV Extra High Voltage belonging to the Power Grid Corporation
of India, are recovered and defused by security force personnel
from Lalpani in the Cachar district along Assam-Manipur border.
|
September 3
|
Assam Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi, while making
a case for a direct communication between the Government and the
outfit, said that more civilians than militants are killed in
the State since the ULFA constituted the PCG to negotiate on its
behalf.
The ULFA backed-PCG seeks direct intervention
of the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to break deadlock in the
peace process between the Union Government and ULFA.
|
September 5
|
The suspension of counter-insurgency operations
against the ULFA is extended till September 15. This was announced
by the Union Home Secretary, V. K. Duggal, following a meeting
with the ULFA-backed PCG members, Indira Goswami and Rebati Phukan,
in New Delhi.
The National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan
denies any step on part of the Union Government to unilaterally
release five arrested ULFA leaders. Before holding a meeting with
the PCG members, Narayanan says, "Let them come for talks first."
|
September 6
|
DHD militants belonging to the Jewel Gorlosa faction
shot dead two cadres of the rival Dilip Nunisa faction at Langting
under Maibong police station in the North Cachar Hills. One of
the slain militants was identified as ‘lance corporal’ Lampthou
Dimasa.
The investigation report of the Vigilance and
Anti-Corruption Department of Assam Government states that persons
suspected to be linked to the ISI, the external intelligence agency
of Pakistan, are appointed in the State Social Welfare Department.
The investigation report was published in July 2005 regarding
irregular appointments to atleast 300 posts in the ranks of Inspectors
and Lower Division Assistants in the Social Welfare Department.
|
September 7
|
Army officials state that the ULFA cadres are
involved in extortion, despite the suspension of counter-insurgency
operations against the outfit.
A bus driver, Pradip Boro, is shot dead and another,
Babujan Hazarika, is abducted by militants of the Karbi Longri
North Cachar Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF) at Langthang under
Samaguri police station in the Nagaon district. According to police
sources, two drivers were waiting near their buses at Langthang
Bazaar, when three cadres of the outfit demanded ransom from them,
and later attacked them on their refusal to pay.
|
September 8
|
Intelligence reports indicate that Jihadi elements
are planning to attack the Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for his
views on fundamentalist groups.
|
September 10
|
DHD cadres belonging to the anti-talks faction
headed by Jewel Gorlosa set ablaze two labour camps at different
construction sites of the Northeast Frontier Railway’s broad gauge
project in the North Cachar Hills, as the companies involved in
the project fail to pay ransom to the militants. Additional Superintendent
of Police Bidyut Buragohain confirmed that two labour sheds at
Asong Haju and Saron Basti under Mahur police station are set
ablaze by at least 12 cadres of the outfit.
|
September 11
|
Central intelligence agencies inform the Assam
Government that Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi figures in the hit
list of the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), an Islamist
outfit in Bangladesh. “Involvement of Bangladeshi outfits in terrorist
acts in the country is nothing new and they have also chalked
out covert plans for Assam. But this is probably the first time
that evidence has been gathered on their motive to target a high
profile politician in the state,” unnamed official sources said.
UPDS announces its suspension of peace talks
with the Union Government. However, the outfit says it will continue
with the cease-fire.
|
September 12
|
The ULFA seeks time till September 20 to respond
to the Union Government’s demand for a formal letter before carrying
forward the negotiations.
|
September
17 |
The ULFA serves an extortion note to the Nagrijuli
tea estate in the Baksa district demanding INR 10 million.
According to Intelligence Bureau (IB) sources,
at least four training camps are run along the India-Bhutan border
where ULFA cadres are getting trained by the LTTE in carrying
out suicide attacks.
The ULFA in its mouthpiece Freedom calls or a
‘level-playing field’ for direct peace talks with the Union Government
and for a ‘proper atmosphere’ for talks by releasing five of its
arrested leaders.
|
September
18 |
A DHD cadre
belonging to its Black Widow faction, Ajit Hagjer, is arrested from
Hotel Geetanjali at Panbazar in the Guwahati city. |
September
19 |
The ULFA-backed PCG member, Indira Goswami, asks
the National Security Advisor, M. K. Narayanan, for extension
of the suspension of counter-insurgency operation against the
outfit by one more month in Assam.
The ‘commander-in-chief’ of the ULFA, Paresh Baruah,
says that the possibility of direct peace talks between the Union
Government and the outfit will depend on the ‘sincerity’ of the
Government.
One civilian is wounded when suspected militants
hurl a grenade and resort to indiscriminate firing targeting a
saw mill at Maibong in the North Cachar Hills district. The saw
mill caught fire after the blast.
|
September
20 |
Assam Chief
Minister Tarun Gogoi states that the ULFA is yet to refrain from
carrying out its extortion activities. |
September
21 |
A high level
inter-ministerial meeting, chaired by the National Security Advisor
M. K. Narayanan to review the issue of bringing the ULFA to the
negotiating table in New Delhi, fails to come to a decision on extension
of suspension of military operations which expired on September
20. |
September
22 |
ULFA militants kill police personnel Ranjit Sonowal
at Than Gaon village under Barbaruah police station in the Dibrugarh
district. The militants opened fire on police personnel, who were
searching for an extortionist belonging to the outfit, identified
as Debu Dutta.
A civil society organisation, Chiring Chapori
Yuba Mancha, has renewed its call to boycott Bangladeshi nationals
economically by not giving any jobs in the Dibrugarh district.
National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan conveys
to the ULFA-backed PCG member Indira Goswami that the Union Government
will not extend the suspension of counter-insurgency operations
against the outfit in Assam without receiving a written commitment
from it on holding direct peace talks.
A departmental action is initiated against Muzibur
Rahman, an executive engineer in the Dhansiri irrigation project,
for giving shelter to NDFB cadres involved in the killing of five
Sashastra Seema Bal personnel along the India-Bhutan border in
May 2006.
|
September
23 |
The ULFA kills a tea estate manager in Assam.
Police said four ULFA cadres shot dead Haren Das, a manager of
the Hailanga tea estate in front of his residence, in Digboi town.
The attack comes a day after the Union Government indicated that
military operations against the outfit could resume.
|
September
24 |
The Union Government declares resumption of counter-insurgency
operations against the ULFA in Assam, after the deadline for suspension
of operation against the outfit expires on September 20. A statement
issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) says that the
‘suspension of operations’ against the outfit is called off ‘with
effect from today’. The statement adds, “Operations had been suspended
some time back because of the possibility of direct talks with
Ulfa towards (the) peace process. However, efforts for pursuing
the peace process by the government will continue.”
A ‘corporal’ of the ULFA, Diganta Baruah alias
Bitupan Baruah, is killed in an encounter with SF personnel at
Mazmamoroni near Lekhapani under Digboi police station in the
Tinsukia district. However, another injured militant manages to
escape from the encounter site. Further, nine Army personnel and
a civilian, Dwipen Baruah, are also injured in the encounter.
|
September
25 |
A ULFA cadre, Mohipal Moran, is killed and five
soldiers wounded during an encounter at Borpathar under Pengeri
police station limits in the Tinsukia district. A 9 mm Chinese
pistol, five rounds of 9mm ammunition, seven rounds of AK-47 ammunition,
a hand grenade and cash worth INR 50,000 are recovered from the
slain militant. Two ULFA cadres are arrested following the incident.
The ULFA ‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa has stated
that his outfit is not bothered about the breakdown of the cease-fire.
"We don't want a truce and instead committed to ending the war.
The government of India's ceasefire announcement in August was
nothing but a drama enacted by them," Rajkhowa stated.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi offers the ULFA
leadership one more chance to meet their jailed leaders. "I can
allow the ULFA leadership, if they want to consult the jailed
leaders on the peace process. I have no problems if it leads to
bringing peace in the state," he says.
The ULFA ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh Barua warns
all ‘Indians living in the North-east’ to pay taxes to the outfit
and also appeals to the local inhabitants to contribute according
to their means to the outfit’s coffers.
|
September
26 |
Union Government decides to seal the India-Bhutan
border by intensifying surveillance along the 699 kms international
border to prevent any possible influx of militants belonging to
outfits such as the ULFA, NDFB and KLO.
Three employees of a manufacturing enterprise,
Vinay Cements Ltd, including its senior manager, Ravi Shankar
Thakur, are abducted by cadres belonging to the Karbi Longri North
Cachar Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF) from a mining site near
Umrangsu in the North Cachar Hills district. Two junior employees,
Prabir Kumar Das and Nahor Singh, are subsequently released. However,
involvement of Kuki militants in the abduction incident is also
suspected.
|
September
27 |
Suspected ULFA cadres trigger a grenade explosion
targeting SF personnel at Kundil in the Tinsukia district.
The ULFA-backed PCG pulls out from the peace talks
with the Union Government. PCG spokesperson Aroop Borbora said:
“we feel that due to the attitude of the Government, which made
a complete summersault on the assurances given earlier, holding
of further parleys with the Government would not serve any purpose.”
Suspected Bru militants abduct a trader, Joinal
Abedin, from the Baicherra area of Hailakandi district along the
Assam-Mizoram border.
|
September
28 |
At least six
persons, including two SF personnel, were wounded in an Improvised
Explosive Device (IED) explosion triggered by the ULFA militants
at a shopping place at Digboi in the Tinsukia district. |
September
29 |
Suspected ULFA militants trigger a grenade explosion
injuring eight persons at a shopping place, the Central Plaza
market complex, in the Tinsukia city. Two vehicles are also damaged
in the blast.
Suspected ULFA militants use a powerful bomb to
blow up a portion of the Oil India Limited (OIL) pipeline at Salbari
under Tingkhong police station in the Dibrugarh district. OIL
spokesperson Phanindra Dev Choudhury said, "It was a 10-inch gas
distribution pipeline and our workers were on the job throughout
the night to repair the damaged facility. The extent of the damage
is yet to ascertained.”
Police recover and defuse a powerful bomb planted
by the ULFA in a dustbin on the busy Plaza-Assam trunk road in
Tinsukia town.
|
October 1
|
ULFA triggers
a hand grenade blast targeting police personnel at Nalanipalam in
the Dhemaji district. While the grenade attack failed to hit its
intended target, a male child, Debabrata Dhingia, is killed, and
at least 20 persons are wounded. |
October 2
|
A ULFA cadre, identified as 'lance corporal' Sishuram
Saikia, is killed in an encounter with police personnel at an
unspecified place in the Lakhimpur district.
ULFA threatens the ruling Congress party and its
members following the resumption of Army operations against the
outfit in the State. The ULFA also accuses the Union Government
for failure of the peace talks.
|
October 3
|
Assam Police arrest four unidentified ULFA cadres
and interrogate them for their involvement in the October 1-grenade
blast in which a child was killed and 20 person wounded at Nalanipalam
in the Dhemaji district.
The ULFA, while endorsing the People's Consultative
Group's (PCG) decision to pull out of the negotiations with the
Union Government, refuses to disband the PCG.
|
October 4
|
The ULFA plans to cut off the road communication
by blowing up all the bridges and culverts in areas along the
India-Myanmar international border as well as Assam-Arunachal
Pradesh inter-State border to stop the movement of Army while
carrying out its counter-insurgency operations against the outfit
in Assam, according to intelligence sources.
|
October 5
|
Four civilians and three police constables are
injured in a grenade blast triggered by two motorcycle-borne ULFA
militants targeting a security convoy in front of the Doomdooma
police station in the Tinsukia district.
Two motorcycle-borne ULFA militants hurl a hand
grenade at Namrup police station in the Dibrugarh district in
a simultaneous attack. The compound wall of the police station
was partially damaged.
|
October 6
|
At least 13 Railway Protection Force personnel
are killed by in an ambush by the DHD militants belonging to the
Black Widow faction in the North Cachar Hills district.
A ULFA 'corporal', identified as Debojit, is
killed by SF personnel in a counter-insurgency operation at an
unspecified place in the Sibsagar district.
|
October 7
|
Two civilians are killed and three others injured
in crossfire during an encounter between SFs and Black Widow militants
in Mujam village under Kherni police station in the Karbi Anglong
district.
An improvised explosive device is exploded by
the ULFA at Borhat Sibsagar district.
A grenade is hurled at Tengakhat police station
in the Dibrugarh district. Later, two persons, Diganta Sonowal
and Bhupen Sonowal, were arrested from the nearby Langri Borhulla
village in connection with the grenade attack.
|
October 8
|
Two motorcycle-borne ULFA militants, Simanta Bora
and Baikuntha Gogoi, hurl a hand grenade at the Amguri police
station in the Sibsagar district. A civilian, Lakhi Das, was injured
and the building of the police station was partially damaged.
The duo was arrested in the subsequent search operation.
|
October 9
|
A bicycle borne-ULFA militant hurls a grenade
injuring one person at a crowded shopping place at Digboi in the
Tinsukia district.
A Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) terrorist, Nurul
Amin alias Shajid alias Moniruddin, who was arrested in the State
in 1999, manages to escape from the Guwahati Medical College Hospital
while he was being taken there for a medical check-up. Amin was
among the 40 HuM cadres arrested from different parts of Assam
following the arrest of four Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)
agents in Guwahati in 1999. He was also involved in a plot to
trigger blasts at the Kamakhya temple.
|
October 11
|
The ULFA triggers an IED explosion blowing up
a security convoy and injuring security force personnel at an
unspecified place near Dasaijan village in the Tinsukia district.
|
October 12
|
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) submits
to Myanmar's Government a list of 15 militant camps run on its
soil by the outfits, including ULFA.
|
October 13
|
Tinsukia district Deputy Commissioner Absar Hazarika
says that students in his district were "bribed with money, cars,
motor-cycles and cell phones to explode bombs and grenades in
public places."
|
October 14
|
The ULFA kills a trader's son, Ghanashyam Maheswari,
at Machkhowa in the Dhemaji district for his refusal to pay ransom
to the outfit.
|
October 15
|
A trader, Omprakash Agarwalla, is shot dead by
ULFA cadres at his grocery shop under Morn police station in the
Sivasagar district. He was earlier served extortion note by the
outfit, according to police sources.
One ULFA cadre, Gautom Kalita, is killed in an
explosion of a crude bomb that he was manufacturing at his rented
accommodation at Kahilipara in Guwahati.
The ULFA-backed People's Consultative Group seeks
a communiqué from the Assam Government on the stalled peace process
with the outfit.
|
October 16
|
The security force personnel foil a plan by the
ULFA to plant improvised explosive devices and blow up oil and
gas pipelines at Duliajan under Lankasi police station in the
Tinsukia district. Digging tools and wires are recovered from
the incident site.
|
October 17
|
ULFA militants kill a civilian, Dilip Barua, whose
dead body is recovered from Meseki forest under Pengri police
station in the Tinsukia district.
Two ULFA linkmen, Kabindra Sonowal and Arup Bora,
are arrested from Jokhai area in the outskirts of Dibrugarh town.
A trader, Joinal Abedin, who was abducted and
kept hostage by the United Democratic Liberation Army cadres,
manages to escape from the confinement of the Bru militants, and
turns up at the Jamira outpost in the Hailakandi district.
|
October 18
|
A surrendered ULFA cadre, Kamal Hazarika, is shot
dead by suspected ULFA militants at Borabhayapuri under Tengakhat
police station in the Dibrugarh district.
The dead body of a DHD cadre is recovered from
Khinmung Basti under Mahur police station in the North Cachar
Hills district.
All the major political parties in Assam condemn
the ULFA for carrying out explosions, other subversive activities,
and bringing in children and students into militancy.
|
October 19
|
A former BLT cadre, Nagen Boro, is shot dead by
unidentified gunmen at Bamunjuli Chowk under Paneri police station
in the Udalguri district along the India-Bhutan border.
At least four ULFA cadres, Rantu Medhi, Dhanen
Ray, Manwar Hussain and Shahjahan Ali, are arrested from Bongaljura
in the Goalpara district.
Two ULFA cadres, Aftab Ali alias Rontu Medhi and
Dhojen Roy alias Appu Saikia, and a linkman, Munawar Hussain,
are arrested in a search operation at Bangaljihar in the Goalpara
district, for their involvement in the recruitment of new cadres
for the outfit.
|
October 21
|
Unidentified militants open fire with automatic
weapons at a moving train, Arunachal Express, killing one police
personnel and wounding two police personnel and three passengers
at Khoirabari in the Darrang district.
|
October 22
|
At least 12 DHD cadres along with a civilian driver
are arrested, while travelling in two vehicles with a huge cache
of arms and explosives, near Umrangsu in the North Cachar Hills
district.
|
October 23
|
An unidentified ULFA cadre is killed and another
wounded, when a grenade targeting SF personnel explodes at village
Narayanpur in the Lakhimpur district.
The ULFA-backed People's Consultative Group member,
Indira Goswami, appeals to the Union Government to restart the
peace process with the group.
Two lesser-known outfits, the Barak Valley Youth
Liberation Front and United Democratic Liberation Army, decide
to merge by sharing of arms and selection of leaders during a
meeting at Kalapahar area in the Hailakandi district on an unspecified
date.
|
October 26
|
A trader, Jayanta Dey, is shot dead by the ULFA
militants at Doomdooma in the Tinsukia district, for his failure
to respond to the extortion notice served on him by the outfit.
|
October27
|
At least three civilians were killed and 22 persons,
including one woman, a child and two Central Reserve Police Force
personnel, sustain injuries when an improvised explosive device
planted on a bi-cycle parked in front of Paramount Restaurant
is triggered at Dhekiajuli town in the Sonitour district.
|
October 28
|
Two children were killed and several others sustained
injuries in the ULFA triggered twin bomb explosions at Guwahati
on the banks of the river Brahmaputra during Chhath Puja (an annual
Hindu festival dedicated to the worship of the sun).
|
October 30
|
Suspected DHD militants abduct Samdes Ardau, a
revenue officer in the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council,
from his Haflong residence.
|
November 1
|
ULFA threatens to strongly resist attempts by
a Pubic Sector Undertaking, Oil India Ltd, to explore petroleum
oil in the Brahmaputra basin.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, while speaking
about the stalled peace talks between the Union Government and
ULFA, says, “I think the time has come for the civil society to
take a proactive role for restoration of permanent peace in Asom,
and I want to know their views in this regard.”
|
November 2
|
Assam Director General of Police (DGP), D.N. Dutt,
says that the ULFA is “using certain stretches of the Bhutan for
taking shelter.” Earlier, S. K. Sarkar, Additional Director General
of Police (Intelligence) of West Bengal, had said that the ULFA
and KLO were establishing camps in Bhutan and Nepal and are being
helped by the Maoists of Nepal.
Bhutanese embassy in New Delhi denies the presence
of ULFA or any other militant group in the country. Jigme Tenzin,
third secretary in the press division of the embassy, says, “I
would like to state for the record that since the removal of all
13 camps of the Ulfa from Bhutan during the military operations
conducted by the royal Bhutan army in 2003, there has been no
presence of the ULFA or any other group inside Bhutan.”
Tinsukia District Police arrest a person, Nirmal
Singh Gurung, for distributing Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)
cards of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited to suspected ULFA cadres.
|
November 3
|
Three ULFA militants are killed by SF personnel
in a counter-insurgency operation at Kardoiguri under Moran police
station in the Dibrugarh district. A huge cache of arms and explosives
is recovered from the encounter site.
The Civil Sub Divisional Officer of Hamren, Manoranjan
Gogoi, while returning home from a meeting at the Karbi Anglong
Distrct Collector’s office, is attacked by suspected militants.
|
November 5
|
At least 14 persons are killed and more than 52
others sustain injuries in two separate bomb blasts triggered
by suspected ULFA militants at Fancy Bazaar and Noonmati area
in Guwahati.
|
November 6
|
An unidentified ULFA militant is killed in an
encounter with the Police at Santinagar under Noonmati police
station in the Guwahati city. Explosives, including 13 grenades,
nine electric detonators and some wires are recovered from his
possession.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi says that the State
Government has failed to provide security to the people of Assam.
He says, “Yes, I have to admit that we have failed to provide
security but we have taken this development very seriously and
operations against the militants have been intensified.”
|
November 7
|
Assam Governor, Lt. Gen. Ajai Singh, confirms
involvement of the ULFA in the November 5 twin blasts at Fancy
Bazaar and Noonmati areas in Guwahati.
Sections of the Hindi-speaking community, who
settle in Guwahati, desert Assam following the November 5 bomb
blasts triggered by the ULFA.
The Union Tribal Affairs Minister, P.R. Kyndiah,
while condemning the ULFA for the blasts in Guwahati, says, “The
incidents are barbaric acts of terrorism by cowards. Such incidents
should make the Centre to think of strong action against the militants.”
|
November 8
|
The Inspector General of Police (Intelligence),
Khagen Sarma, names China as one of the main sources of weapons
for militant outfits operating in Assam. He also accuses the Myanmarese
Government of having a “soft and cosmetic” approach towards outfits
operating from its soil. He says the military regime had been
seizing arms and ammunition from militants of the Northeast, only
to sell the consignments to the same groups later. According to
Sarma, violence caused by militancy has increased in Assam during
the last ten months in 2006 after showing a decreasing trend since
2000. He adds that the highest number of civilian casualties in
recent times was in 2000, when 412 people were killed in terrorist
attacks across Assam. At least 92 people have died in violence
involving militants. While speaking about increasing incidents
of bomb blasts in the State since 2002, he says, “There were 18
blasts that year. In 2005, there were 121 blasts and about 100
explosions until October this year.”
|
November 8
|
A child, Debojit Moran, is shot dead and his sister,
Dipanjali Moran, is wounded in a cross fire between Army personnel
and the ULFA militants at Mohong village under Pengeree police
station in the Tinsukia district.
|
November 9
|
The Union Government extends the proscription
on four outfits, including the ULFA and NDFB.
|
November 10
|
Two CRPF personnel, Bansi Lal and Khagen Chetia,
are killed and eight others were injured in an ULFA-triggered
IED explosion targeting two security convoys near Sadiya police
station in the Tinsukia district.
|
November 11
|
Suspected ULFA militants trigger a bomb blast
in a gas pipeline of the Oil India Limited at Dhekulajan under
Tengakhat police station in the Tinsukia district.
|
November 12
|
Suspected ULFA militants trigger an explosion
targeting an oil pipeline of the Oil India Limited at Habeda Tea
Estate under Bordubi police station in the Tinsukia district.
Another explosion is triggered at Ketujan in the same locality.
|
November 13
|
A surrendered ULFA cadre, Basanta Kalita, is shot
dead by unidentified gunmen at Luitpathar near Sualkuchi in the
Kamrup district.
A police personnel and two civilians are injured
when suspected ULFA militants lobb a grenade at Superintendent
of Police (Operations) Jitmal Doley's official residence at Panbazaar
in Guwahati city.
At least seven suspected UPDS militants are arrested
in a counter-insurgency operation at Kaniya Bey village near Diphu
in the Karbi Anglong district, for violating cease-fire rules.
The NDFB admits that some of its cadres killed
five security force personnel and a civilian in May 2006 without
the sanction of the truce-bound outfit's top leadership. NDFB
spokesperson S. Sanjarang said that the Government is "free to
initiate action against the perpetrators of the crime in accordance
with the law of the land".
Assam Police and Bhutanese Army in a joint search
operation find evidence of the militant camps run by the ULFA
in the neighbouring country after the counter-insurgency Operation
All Clear in 2003.
The Union Government conveys to the ULFA-backed
People's Consultative Group members that counter-insurgency operations
against the banned outfit will be stopped only after it gives
a written commitment for holding direct talks with the Government.
"The Centre has asked for a written commitment from ULFA about
the date of holding talks," Indira Goswami said after an hour-long
meeting with the National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan.
|
November 14
|
At least seven kilograms of Cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine
(also known as RDX), concealed in a pressure cooker by the ULFA,
are recovered from a road at Sarupathar near Sapekhati in the
Sivasagar district and later defused by the police. Two detonators
fixed with the RDX and some wires are also recovered from the
incident site.
Bhutan's Ambassador in India, Dago Tshering, said,
"We have no report whatsoever of the ULFA setting up any new camp
inside Bhutan or operating from anywhere in the country. On our
side, the Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) has been deployed to check
or keep vigil over any militant influx, and on your side, we are
aware of the SSB deployment for the same purpose."
|
November 15
|
The ULFA demands protection of the rights of non-Bodo
people in the Bodoland Territorial Council administered areas.
The outfit referred to allegations about "a certain section" of
the people extorting money from "non-Bodo indigenous people" residing
in the Bodoland areas.
At least eight ULFA militants, including a 'lance
corporal of 27 battalion' Shankar Bora, are arrested from Bokolia
under Howraghat police station.
|
November 16
|
The Commander of the Army's 107 Mountain Brigade,
Brig. Kanwaljit Singh, said that Islamist outfits such as the
LeT, HuJI and JMB, apart from the MULTA, have stated operating
in certain minority-dominated pockets of Lower Assam, particularly
where suspected migrants from Bangladesh have a sizeable presence.
The ULFA-backed PCG member Indira Goswami announces
her withdrawal from the peace process. "I am hurt by the lack
of transparency," said Goswami, adding: "I am not a politician.
And as such I feel hurt because of the delay in the peace talks
process… I am primarily an author and would like to concentrate
fully on creative work.I think I have fulfilled my role as peace
facilitator and have succeeded in bringing the government and
ULFA closer through the People's Consultative Group."
Two unidentified NDFB cadres are shot dead by
Assam Police in a counter-insurgency operation at Langkin Manikpur
in the Karbi Anglong district.
|
November 17
|
An extortion note bearing signatures of two ULFA-backed
PCG members, Lachit Bordoloi and Dilip Patgiri, is recovered from
two persons, Rebot Bora and Pankaj Sarma, arrested during a search
operation near the Guwahati Commerce College.
|
November 19
|
The Special Branch of Assam Police said that the
'7th Battalion' of the ULFA has established camps at Kawaimari
near Deothang in Bhutan.
|
November 20
|
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) states
that the peace process between the ULFA-backed PCG and Union Government
led to a decline in the violence level in Assam by three per cent,
while killing of security force personnel and civilians decreased
by six per cent.
|
November 22
|
Guwahati Police arrests nine persons in connection
with the November 5 bomb blasts at Fancy Bazaar and Patharquary.
They also recover a programmable timer device from a house in
the city.
|
November 23
|
Three persons, including a woman and a child,
are killed and 11 others are injured when an explosion is triggered
by suspected ULFA militants at the railway station in Guwahati.
Bhutanese Government reassures Assam that it
will not allow its territory to be used by "militants inimical
to the state and India".
Intelligence sources reportedly said that the
ULFA is now recruiting Bangladeshi youths to carry out militancy
in the country, since the outfit is unable to mobilize youth from
Assam.
Sivasagar district police state that only 40
per cent of the huge ransom extorted in the name of ULFA goes
to the outfit, with the rest 60 per cent being invested in business
by persons who are never suspected to be ULFA activists. This
was revealed from the confession of two ULFA agents, Anupam Ojah
and Anil Dutta, arrested earlier.
|
November 24
|
A person, Madhu Debnath, who was injured in the
November 23-explosion triggered by the ULFA at the railway station
in Guwahati, succumbs to his injuries increasing the number of
fatalities to four.
|
November 26
|
An explosive weighing three kilograms is recovered
from the house of Abdul Zaffar, a suspected agent of the Pakistani
ISI, at Makati village under Gossaigaon police station in the
Kokrajhar district. At least five persons are arrested in connection
with the recovery.
|
November 28
|
A ULFA militant, Lalit Moran, is shot dead by
SF personnel in an encounter at Liton Hatigarh in Watiat village
under Pengeri police station in the Tinsukia district. Suspected
ULFA militants attacked Rangapara police station in the Sonitpur
district with a grenade.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says that the ULFA
is under the grip of Pakistan's ISI. He told a 12-party delegation
from Assam, led by former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Mahanta,
which met him in New Delhi that he was ready to re-start talks
with the ULFA but the group would first have to shake off the
ISI yoke guiding its actions. The delegation had urged Dr. Singh
to resume "unconditional" talks with the ULFA. Mahanta said after
the meeting, "The PM said Centre is ready for talks (with ULFA)
as and when they come out of the clutches of ISI."
|
November 29
|
Suspected ULFA militants trigger an IED blast
blowing off a security convoy, killing one Army personnel, N.
Yella Reddy, and injuring four Army personnel and two civilians
at Asomiagaon under Joypore police station in the Dibrugarh district.
A surrendered ULFA cadre, Bhaskar Saikia alias
Mission Sonowal, is shot dead by unidentified gunmen at his residence
in the Lengrai village of Tinsukia district. The cease-fire agreement
between the Union Government and NDFB is extended by a period
of six months with effect from December 1, 2006.
The Government sets a deadline of March 1, 2007,
for the NDFB to submit its charter of demands to start negotiations.
|
November 30
|
A SULFA cadre, Nripen Mohon, is shot dead by
ULFA militants at Mohmora village in the Sibsagar district.
A student belonging to the Lahowal College, identified
as Rajib Baruah, is abducted and later tortured by the SULFA cadres
at Chabua in the Dibrugarh district.
Assam Police say that the ULFA has established
links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri
Lanka. "The ULFA leadership has established diplomatic relations
with the LTTE and there is evidence in that regard," said an official
of the Assam Police. "The ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence of
Pakistan) introduced LTTE's arms suppliers to ULFA leaders and
two Tamils were arrested in Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh when a
huge quantity of ammunition meant for the ULFA was seized," says
the official adding that arms were also supplied to ULFA through
Cambodia, for which the group paid "hard currency routed through
Nepal." Reports add that the ISI had facilitated recent visits
by top ULFA leaders, including its ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh
Baruah, to Singapore, Thailand and other countries.
The Inspector General of BSF of Assam, Meghalaya,
Manipur and Nagaland Frontier, Jyoti Prakash Sinha, said that
both the ISI and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) ‘threatened’
ULFA to dissuade itself from peace talks with the Government of
India.
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December 2
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A DHD leader belonging to the Dilip Nunisa faction,
‘lieutenant’ Mazran Dimasa, is wounded when he is attacked by
the rival anti-talks faction led by Jewel Gorlosa at Maibong town
in the North Cachar Hills district. Mazran’s wife, Riya Maibongsa,
and a civilian, Ananta Langthasa, are also wounded in the attack.
A woman cadre of the ULFA, identified as Chayanika
Bora alias Maini Bora, is arrested during a search operation at
Gowal village under Teok police station in the Jorhat district.
Two persons are also arrested for providing shelter to the ULFA
cadre.
The ULFA asks the Union Government to give a
written commitment that the issue of Assam’s ‘sovereignty’ will
be discussed in the negotiations.
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December 4
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Assam Police is to set up an anti-extortion wing,
since several persons received extortion demands from callers
identifying themselves as militants belonging to the NDFB over
telephone. "We are indeed worried as criminals were found
serving extortion notices or demanding money over telephone in
the name of some militant groups and therefore, we are seriously
thinking of having an exclusive anti-extortion cell," said
Assam Police intelligence chief, Khagen Sharma.
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December 5
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A ULFA militant, Jiten Munda, is shot dead by
security force personnel at village Torani under Pengeri police
station in the Tinsukia district.
Suspected militants trigger an explosion on the
broad gauge railway track between Daldali and Diphu railway stations
in the Karbi Anglong district disrupting the rail communication
in Guwahati-Tinsukia section of Northeast Frontier Railway. The
blast missed the Howrah-Tinsukia Kamrup Express train by a few
minutes.
The Supreme Court declares a notification made
by the Union Government to put the onus of proving someone an
illegal migrant solely on the complainant as unconstitutional.
A bench comprising Justices S. B. Sinha and P. K. Balasubramanyam
asks the Government to constitute sufficient number of tribunals
under the Foreigners Act within four months to settle pending
complaints against thousands of suspected Bangladeshis residing
in Assam.
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December 5
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Two traders, Goutam Roy and Bijit Paul, are abducted
by suspected cadres of the little known militant outfit, the Barak
Valley Youth Liberation Front from an unspecified place in the
Karimganj district.
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December 6
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Assam Government appeals to the ULFA to withdraw
its call for sportspersons to stay away from the forthcoming National
Games.
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December 7
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Three employees, Ajay Banerjee,
Debdoot Sen and Manoj Bhuyan, of a construction company Gammon
India, are shot at and injured by suspected militants of Black
Widow, the anti-talks faction of the DHD, at Manigiripur under
Maibong police station in the North Cachar Hills district.
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December 8
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An IED planted by the ULFA militants
blows up a requisitioned police convoy at Suraj Nagar under Tengakhat
police station in the Dibrugarh district, killing four police
personnel and the civilian driver. The ULFA has claimed responsibility
for the blast and said that the explosion was executed to avenge
the killing of three of its members, including middle-rank leader
Charan Majhi, by the police on November 3.
The survey engineer Uday Banerjee,
who was wounded by Black Widow militants, the anti-talks faction
of the DHD, at Manigiripur under Maibong police station in the
North Cachar Hills district a day earlier, succumbs to his injuries.
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December 10
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Assam Police identify Madhurjya
Gohain, a cadre of ‘28 battalion’ of the ULFA, as the mastermind
of the December 8-IED explosion killing four police personnel
and one civilian at Suraj Nagar under Tengakhat police station
in the Dibrugarh district.
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December 11
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A civil society organization,
Dhubri Zilla Nagarik Manch (Dhubri District Citizen Forum), calls
for a 12-hour general strike in the Dhubri district demanding
the arrest of Abu Taher Bepari, the Legislator of Golokganj Assembly
constituency, for his alleged links with the ULFA.
114 civilians and 27 security
personnel have died in militancy-related violence in Assam since
Tarun Gogoi took over as Chief Minister for the second term in
May 2006. Forest and Environment Minister Rockybul Hussain disclosed
in the State Legislative Assembly that the civilians killed include
57 persons who were killed in explosions triggered by militants.
1214 persons, including 1031 civilians, 121 personnel belonging
to Assam Police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and other
para-military forces and 62 Army personnel, were killed by various
militant outfits since Gogoi became Chief Minister in May 2001.
He also mentioned that as many as 1,051 cadres of various militant
outfits, including the ULFA, were killed in encounters with security
forces since May 2001.
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December 12
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Assam Government asks top ULFA
leaders like ‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa and ‘commander-in-chief’
Paresh Barua to take part in the peace talks with the Union Goverenment.
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December 13
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Two persons are killed and several
others sustained injuries when unidentified militants open fire
at Umrangsu Bazaar in the North Cachar Hills district.
At least four Army personnel are
injured as a bomb, planted inside a pressure cooker by the ULFA
militants, explodes at Kakotibari in the Sibsagar district.
A leader of the DHD, Arnol Ponglu,
is killed and two cadres are injured when militants of the Black
Widow, the anti-talks’ faction of the outfit led by Jewel Garlossa,
attack them at Umrangshu in the North Cachar Hills district. A
junior engineer of the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation,
Manilal Thousen, is also killed during the clash.
The beheaded body of a DHD militant,
Jaulal Raijung, is recovered from Langting under Maibong police
station in the North Cachar Hills district. According to police
sources, Raijung may have been killed by suspected cadres of his
outfit.
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December 15
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Between January 2001 and September
2006, around 9,149 foreign nationals were detected, and out of
which only 1,864 could be deported back from Assam to Bangladesh
at the cost of INR 170 crore (1700 million). Minister for Assam
Accord Implementation, Bhumidhar Barman, said that the Assam Government
has spent INR 1,80,000 ($4,000) to formally detect and deport
an illegal Bangladeshi migrant from Assam. "The police incurred
an expense of INR 160 crore (1600 million) towards detection and
deportation of the foreigners. The remaining was expenditure by
tribunals," Barman informed.
Assam Legislative Assembly appeals
to the ULFA to withdraw its call for a boycott of the 33rd
National Games scheduled from February 9 to 18, 2007.
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December 17
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At least 5,000 skilled as well
as unskilled construction workers and technical staff reportedly
left the broad gauge railway construction project between Silchar
and Lumding in the North Cachar Hills district following a series
of militant attacks in the recent past.
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December 21
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A trader, Pawan Newar, is shot
dead by ULFA militants at Beltola area in Guwahati city.
An improvised explosive device
(IED) planted in a bicycle is triggered by the suspected ULFA
militants in the Athgaon area of Guwahati city, injuring at least
20 persons, including children and women. "The ULFA was behind
the blast," says Avinash Joshi, Kamrup District (Metro) Deputy
Commissioner.
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December 22
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
tells Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi that the Union Government
will offer safe passage to top ULFA leaders if they come forward
for direct peace talks with the Government.
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December 23
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A supervisor of a railway construction
company, Banwarilal Sharma, is rescued from the captivity of suspected
Hmar and Kuki militants from Chiripunjee area near Jaipur in the
Cachar district along the Assam-Manipur border.
A court remands Samiran Baruah,
mastermind of the recent blasts triggered by ULFA in Guwahati,
along with two of his accomplices, Numal Chetia and Bonti Gogoi,
for three days. They were arrested at Abhaypur near Sonari town
in the Sibsagar district. According to their confession, the ‘28th
battalion’ of ULFA was planning bigger terror attacks than those
triggered recently in the Guwahati city.
A woman cadre of the ULFA, identified
as Bobby Chetry alias Manisha Sarma, is arrested by the city police
during a search operation at an unspecified place near the Guwahati
Medical College Hospital.
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December 24
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The ULFA-backed PCG rejects Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh’s offer of "safe passage" to top ULFA
leaders as a ‘political gimmick’.
The Army and the Special Branch
of Assam Police arrest Matibur Rahman, a cadre of Black Widow,
anti-talk faction of the DHD led by the Jwel Gorlosa, from Pailang
village in the Cachar district. Rahman reportedly confessed to
have been recruited by the Black Widow for maintaining links with
the Manipur-based PULF, Pakistan’s Inter- Services Intelligence
and LeT. The report adds that PULF had tied up with the MULTA
and MULFA, and extended its operation to Barak Valley.
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December 25
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The ULFA chief, Arabinda Rajkhowa,
said in an emailed statement to the media that Nagaland had set
up four subdivisions— Kohoboto, Niuland, Uriamghat and Hukaiare
— in Golaghat and Karbi Anglong districts along Assam-Nagaland
border. He accused the Assam Government of being soft towards
Nagaland. He also condemned political parties for not taking a
strong stand on the NSCN-IM demand for a "greater Nagalim",
including the Naga-inhabited areas of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh
and Manipur.
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December 26
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A self-styled woman ‘corporal
of the 28 battalion’ of the ULFA, Karabi Phukan alias Bandita
Phukan, was arrested at Teokghat under Sonari police station in
the Sibsagar district.
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December 27
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One kilogram of brown sugar worth
INR 1.30 crore is recovered from six militants of the ULFA and
NDFB, who are arrested by security force personnel during a search
operation at a hotel at Gossaigaon town in the Kokrajhar district.
Assam Police confirm that Chief
Minister Tarun Gogoi is at the top of ULFA's hit list. The recent
arrest of ULFA cadres in Dibrugarh and Sibsagar districts in upper
Assam and their subsequent interrogation revealed that the ULFA
was "planning something big to attract the Centre's attention
towards its demands."
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December 28
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The Union Home Secretary V.K.
Duggal asks ULFA leaders to make a formal request to the Union
Government for talks to restore peace in Assam. "We are ready
to hold talks with the ULFA but there should be a formal approach
from the ULFA leaders to the Centre," the Union Home Secretary
said, adding that before any talks, the ULFA should make its stand
clear that there will be no more violence and no sovereignty issue.
"These two pre-conditions were of utmost important to hold peace
talks with the ULFA cadres," he mentioned.
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December 29
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The BSF reportedly arrested 776
Bangladeshi infiltrators along the Assam-Meghalaya border in 2006
(till November). 754 are handed over to police and 22 to the Bangladesh
Rifles (BDR). According to BSF sources, most of the 754 Bangladeshi
nationals handed over to the police are deported to the neighbouring
country after talks during the BSF-BDR flag meetings. The report
adds that smuggled goods worth over INR 8.5 crore, including forest
produce valued at INR 2.4 crore, narcotics worth INR 70.9 lakh
and cattle valued at INR 1.9 crore, are recovered from the Indo-Bangladesh
border. The seizure includes fake Indian currency worth INR 33,000,
which are being pumped into the country from Bangladesh.
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December 30
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A huge cache of arms and explosives,
including several gelatine sticks, nine detonators and small arms,
90 pieces of assorted explosives weighing nearly two kilograms,
was recovered from two arms suppliers, Pradeep Basumatary and
Bangal Mushahary, who were arrested from an unspecified place
near Runikhata in the Chirang district. They confess to having
procured arms and explosives from a company based in Hyderabad
and later supplied the same to the Assam and Meghalaya-based outfits,
including ULFA and NDFB.
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