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Assam Timeline - 2013


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Date
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Incidents
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January 1
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PJACB economic blockade starts
with supporters blocking NH-31C in Assam.
Tarun Gogoi, the CM of Assam said
his Government could not control the BTAD unrest the way it would
have liked to and it would take some time for rehabilitation of
the remaining camp inmates.
A militant of Songbijit faction
of NDFB-IKS, identified as H Leba alias Lalit Hajong, laid
down arms before Udalguri Dy. Commissioner, Thaneswar Malakar,
in Udalguri District of Assam.
CM, Tarun Gogoi said that after
tackling insurgency effectively over the years, his Government
was now faced with the problem posed by CPI-Maoists that are trying
to strike roots in the State.
|
| January 2 |
SFs arrested a person, identified
as Rafikul Islam (34), along with arms and ammunition in Kokrajhar
District of Assam.
The indefinite economic blockade
called by the PJACBM has been suspended till January 15, following
intervention from the MHA.
|
| January 3 |
Unidentified militants abducted
a businessman, identified as Anjan Kar (30), from the Kherbari
in Sonitpur District of Assam.
Activists set ablaze a motorcycle,
damaged a car and an attempt was made to burn down the Bamunigaon
panchayat office in RHAC areas during a 36-hour Bandh in
Goalpara and Kamrup Districts of Assam.
SFs arrested two active militants
of ADF, Jehaskal Hasda alias Rajen and Raju Hembram, at
Kachugaon under Gossaigaon sub-division in Kokrajhar District.
One 9 mm pistol and 5 mobile phones were recovered from their
possession.
|
| January 4 |
SFs recovered two IEDs suspected
to be planted by Anti-Talks faction of ULFA-ATF, from an Oil India
Ltd pipeline at Nagajan in Tinsukia District of Assam.
SFs arrested an ULFA linkman from
Dhubri District of Assam.
HSDP, a new political entity,
created after dissolution of some Opposition parties and now-disbanded
UPDS, will launch a "mass political movement" from March 2013
demanding a separate State comprising Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao
Districts of Assam.
Former UPDS leaders, who had signed
a tripartite MoS with the Centre and the State Government on November
25, 2011, said they have lost faith in the government as even
after more than one year no step has been taken to implement the
agreement.
SFs in an encounter killed an
ULFA-ATF militant, corporal Debajit Duarah alias Bangli
Asom, at Hebeda village in the Bordubi area in Tinsukia District.
SFs arrested three militants belonging
to ULFA-ATF, identified as Mridul Hazarika and Samarjit Sarma
of Panigaon-Patkata and Illias Ali, in Nalbari District.
|
| January 5 |
SFs arrested one militant of AANLA,
identified as Mohesh Orang (23), from Gopinathpur area of Kokrajhar
District. One .9 mm pistol along with 5 live rounds was recovered
from the arrested militant.
|
| January 6 |
SFs arrested two suspected GNLA
militants, identified as Nidu Sangma (19) and Dukham Momin (18),
from Bakhrakhuti village near Dudhnoi in Goalpara District.
|
| January 7 |
SFs arrested a militant belonging
to ULFA-ATF, identified as Nitul Moran, at Doomdooma in Tinsukia
District.
Non-tribals of Kamrup-rural District
blocked NH-37 and disrupted rail communication at different locations
in southern Kamrup demanding the forthcoming Garm Panchayat
(village-level self governing body) election be held in non-tribal
pockets within the RHAC. The Gram Panchayat polls are not
held in all the autonomous council areas of the State, including
under the RHAC, as these special category areas have their own
council elections.
State Government will update NRC
in 42 LACs in eight districts of Assam in the first phase.According
to an official source, the 42 LACs are from Dibrugarh, Tinsukia,
Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Lakhimpur, Nagaon and Sonitpur Districts.
The NRC in these constituencies will be updated within three years
from the day of starting the work.
|
| January 8 |
The CBI team arrested Moinul Haque,
former 'president' of ABMSU for his role in the killing of four
Bodo youths on July 20, 2012, at Joypur in Kokrajhar District.
Two of his associates, identified as Jahanuddin Sheik and Jakhir
Ali, were also arrested.
Altogether 22 people have been
arrested by the CBI in connection with the case. The CBI has earlier
arrested five people in September 2012, six in December 2012 and
eight persons on January 5, 2013.
|
| January 9 |
Three children, identified as
Rinki Kurmi (10), Rupesh Kurmi (5) and Sandhya Kurmi (5), were
killed and two others were injured in a suspected grenade explosion
at Kharjan under Digboi Police Station in Tinsukia District. Those
injured in the blast were identified as Bhanumati (25), and Pushpanjali
Kurmi (7).
ABSU warned of a massive movement
if Bodoland is not formed by the time the Telangana region of
Andhra Pradesh State gets statehood. ABSU 'General Secretary',
Jiron Basumatary further called for the release of jailed NDFB-RD
'chairman' Ranjan Daimary to facilitate the peace process.
|
| January 10 |
Suspected NSCN-K militants abducted
four persons of a private mining company from Tikok Hills area
under Margherita Sub-Division in Tinsukia District. The abducted
persons were identified as Mahendra Baruah, Pancham Charki, Kunal
Basumatary and Raja Thapa.
UHM, Sushil Kumar Shinde said
that ban on outlawed ULFA and NDFB would continue.
CM, Tarun Gogoi held the ULFA-ATF
responsible for the death of three children in Tinsukia district
on January 9.
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| January 11 |
SFs rescued the four employees
of Brahmaputra Infrastructure Private Ltd, abducted by suspected
NSCN-K militants on January 10, from the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh
border in Tinsukia District.
|
| January 12 |
SFs arrested a suspected militant
belonging to ULFA-ATF, Dhanudhar Neog, from Jutlibari area of
Doomdooma in the Tinsukia District.
Following the inputs provided
by the arrested ULFA-ATF militant SFs busted a militant camp located
in the northern part of the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in the
same District.
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| January 13 |
SFs arrested a militant belonging
to I K.Sanbijit faction of the NDFB-IKS, identified as Sailot
Narzary, from Sukrajhar area under Basugaon Police Station in
Chirang District. Two foreign made hand grenades were recovered.
SFs arrested two injured militants
of the NDFB-IKS, following an encounter with SFs, at Ultapani
in Kokrajhar District. SFs recovered two grenades, one pistol
and some incriminating documents from the injured militants.
|
| January 14 |
SFs killed two militants, identified
as Thungri Basumatary and Barfu alias B Borailing belonging to
the NDFB-IKS at Delaishree near Lumsung Forest reserve under Chirang
reserve in Kokrajhar District. The SFs also recovered two .9 mm
pistols and some rounds of ammunition. NDFB-IKS, however, termed
the killing of two militants in the encounter as "fake encounter"
and condemned the killings.
SFs arrested an NDFB-IKS militant,
identified as Sylot Narzary (25) alias Syco, from Salbari
area under Basugaon Police Station of Chirang District.
|
| January 15 |
Central Government said that the
SoO Agreement with the NDFB-PTF had been extended till June 30,
2013.
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| January 16 |
The next round of political dialogue
between the Government and NDFB-PTF is likely to be held later
this month, even as the NDFB-PTF renewed its demand for creation
of a separate State of Bodoland. A five-member delegation of NDFB-PTF
led by 'general secretary' Govinda Basumatary on January 16 had
their first interaction with UMHA, Sushilkumar Shinde. The militant
leaders urged the UMHA to expedite resolution of their charter
of demands.
State Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi
credited the BTC authorities and Congress for the quick rehabilitation
of the riot-affected people. CM Gogoi said, "We thought it would
take time to rehabilitate the people after such major riots but
I am told only about 6,000 people are now left in the relief camps
and the process is on to rehabilitate them. Most of the over 4
lakh people have returned. It was possible because of the initiative
by the Hagrama Mohilary-led BTC administration and the people
of this area, who have realised that we need to live together
in peace. The riots were incited by certain forces to create misunderstanding
and chaos among the people."
In addition, BTC 'chairman' Hagrama
Mohilary softened his stand on rehabilitation of doubtful citizens
in the Bodo belt, saying all displaced people would be re-settled
with or without land documents.
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| January 17 |
SFs arrested an ULFA-ATF linkman,
identified as Tutu Bora Moran, from Jutlibari under Doomdooma
Police Station in Tinsukia District.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said
that notwithstanding the improvement in the situation in BTC areas
following a period of prolonged Bodo-Muslim ethnic violence in
2012, forces that had fuelled the clashes were still active in
the State. CM, Tarun Gogoi also asserted that militant groups
and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) agents were also at work
during the ethnic-clashes period.
48- hour Karbi Anglong Bandh
(General Shutdown) imposed by KANCHASDCOM, a organisation demanding
creation of an autonomous state encompassing the two autonomous
hill Districts; Karbi Anglong & Dima Hasao, of the State began.
A leader of KLNLF Dhani Ram Tisso further said that the creation
of an autonomous State was a national commitment and that sentiment
of the entire hill people was involved.
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| January 19 |
SFs recovered two bottle grenades
from Budlabet Tea Estate area under Doomdooma Police Station.
The two youths who were carrying the grenades managed to escape.
Separately, SFs arrested a Dima
Hasao based Dimasa militant, identified as Bipa Dimasa (27), from
Banderdewa in North Lakhimpur District.
SFs arrested three linkmen NDFB-IKS,
identified as Hitesh Das alias Kendura, Bidya Basumatary
alias Bonjar and Thempu Narzary, from Bongaigaon and Chirang
District respectively.
SFs arrested two armed couriers
of NDFB-IKS, Bipul Khaklari (39), and Chandradhar Bora, (32),
and recovered a Chinese grenade launcher and 12 shells at Tezpur
in Sonitpur District.
SFs arrested a women conduit of
NDFB-IKS, Benita Mushahary, from Bongaigaon District.
KSA-Laichan faction has called
for a 12-hour Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao District Bandh (General
strike) on January 25 to press its demand for an autonomous State
comprising the two hill district of the State as per the provision
of the article 244(A) of the Constitution of India.
ABSU said that it would not sit
silent if the Government of India drops the demand for creation
of a separate Bodo State (Bodoland) this time and goes ahead with
the creation of Telangana State.
|
| January 20 |
SFs in an encounter, killed a
militant belonging to the ULFA-ATF, identified as Lalit Moran,
in Kakojan Reserve Forest under Digboi Police Station in Tinsukia
District. But the local people claimed that the slain youth was
innocent.
SFs recovered two powerful IEDs
from the house of one Biswajit Moran at Hahkhati Pathargaon under
Kakopathar Police Station in the same District.
The leader of the ULFA-ATF, Paresh
Baruah, is securing an uninterrupted flow of funds from Guwahati,
the main commercial centre in Northeast India, for his personal
use, revealed an internal report of the government. The militant
leader in hiding, who shuttles between Taga in northern Myanmar
and Ruili in southern China, is collecting the money from a handful
of Guwahati-based contractors through his own channel, the report
said, adding they are paying hefty amounts to Baruah "without
any real threats to their lives."
|
| January 21 |
ULFA-ATF and NDFB-IKS along with
nine other militant outfits of the northeast called for boycott
of Republic Day celebrations on January 26 and blamed the Government
of covert military operations.
The other groups includes CorCom,
the umbrella body of seven militant groups of Manipur, NLFT and
Tripura People’s Democratic Front,[Political organisation representing
(ATTF)]
ULFA-ATF militants opened fire
at the Namtola Police Station under Sivasagar District injuring
a trooper, identified as Liladhar Chetia, and also set ablaze
four vehicles.
|
| January 22 |
SFs, in an encounter killed two
GNLA militants near Khardand under Krishnai Police Station of
Goalpara District.
SFs arrested a Bangladeshi citizen,
identified as Altaf Hussain (30), along with FICN worth INR 100,000
from Sealdoh village in Dhubri District. The arrestee belongs
to Panchbari village under Kurigram District of Bangladesh.
In a statement issued by Aranya
Asom, a member of the ‘publicity wing ‘of the ULFA-ATF, the outfit
claimed responsibility for the attack. It said the action was
in retaliation to the killing of an innocent youth, Lalit Moran,
in Tinsukia District on January 20 by SFs.
|
| January 23 |
SFs recovered a hand grenade in
front of the Kakopathar Police Station in Tinsukia District. Police
recovered the grenade from the road while checking vehicles.
The KPLT has called a 36-hours
Karbi Anglong bandh (shutdown strike), beginning
5 pm of January 24. It has also announced to boycott the Republic
Day celebrations in the District. In a press communiqué,
KPLT ‘general secretary’ and ‘publicity in-charge’ of the
organization, Pakler Ageng, stated that, “There is no justification
in observing Republic Day in Karbi Anglong as Government has resorted
to oppressive and suppressive policies to thwart the free will
of the people. Therefore, all democratic values have lost their
credibility in the District.”
NDFB-PTF leadership is optimistic
on the creation of Bodoland State as the Central Government is
about to announce its decision on the demand for a separate Telangana
State by January 28.
A suspected cadre of KPLT Bikrom
Teron died after he and four others were allegedly thrashed by
the public for extortion in an interior village in Karbi Anglong
District in the night. Teron and four other KPLT cadres — Donsingh
Tokbi, Mangalsingh Signer, Mansingh Rangpi and Rensingh Tokbi
— were caught by villagers while they were going to Donghap under
Dokmoka Police station to extort money from.
|
| January 24 |
CRPF jawan Yambel Darlong was
killed and havildar Debnath Laskar of the Assam Police was seriously
injured when the KPLT, a rebel group, fired at a joint team of
Police and CRPF patrolling party at Engti gaon of Koilamati area
under the Chokihola Police station in Karbi Anglong District.
Army’s bomb disposal squad defused
a ‘sophisticated and powerful’ IED suspected to have been planted
by ULFA at Mangaldoi in Darrang District. The IED was planted
just outside the sadar Police station on National Highway-52.
Security forces have been put on high alert, apprehending strikes
by the outfit ahead of Republic Day.
258 incidents of extremist violence
were reported in 2012 and 53 insurgents were killed during the
same period in Assam. Moreover, the number of civilians killed
in extremist violence stood at 33 while four security personnel
also lost their lives. Besides, 1174 insurgents were also captured.
Further, 443 arms, 9320 rounds of ammunition, 110 improvised explosive
devices and 163 grenades were recovered by the Security Forces.
This was informed by ADGP-Law and Order, AP Rawat while talking
to the media persons at Assam Police headquarters. He also informed
that over INR 110 million cash was recovered from across the State.
The senior Assam Police official
also put the total number of extremist-related incidents violence
in the last three years at 790. Moreover, in the last three years,
the tally of arms and ammunition recovery stood at 1247 and 18764
rounds respectively.
Asked about the rising number
of arms and explosive recovery, DGP, JN Choudhury said that the
procurement of explosives has never been a problem. Dimapur and
China has been the major sources of arms smuggling in the State,
the DGP added.
The DGP, said, the ULFA-ATF may
be facing manpower crisis but there is “no shortage” of arsenal
for the outfit. According to Choudhury, the seizure of a large
number of Chinese grenades and IED in Assam in 2012 is an indicator
that the group still has access to sophisticated arms and ammunition.
According to Police records, a total of 163 grenades and 110 IEDs
were seized in 2012 compared to 110 grenades and 89 IEDs seized
in 2011. Similarly, the number of rounds of ammunition seized
went up to 9,320 in 2012 from 5,544 rounds in 2011.
On the Maoist threat, he said
there are 114 Maoists at present, who are mostly active in Upper
Assam districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Dhemaji and are concentrating
on mass mobilisation and creation of a support base.
Though the overall level of violence
in Assam has come down, extortion by the militant groups remains
a major cause of concern and according to a “very conservative
estimate”, the militants managed to collect at least INR 270 million
from the State in 2012.
The AANLA has urged the State
as well as the Central Government to redress its grievances and
to deal with the long-pending issue of Adivasis. In an email ,
C-n-C of AANLA , Peter Dang expressing his total annoyance over
the Government’s lackadaisical attitude towards the problems of
the Adivasi people living in the State and urged the agencies
concerned, particularly the Central government to provide ST status
to the Adivasi people, to create a separate Autonomous Council
for the Adivasis in Assam, land allotment and pattas to the Adivasis
residing in tea gardens and villages of Assam by sending the mobile
circle office for protection of land and properties.
|
| January 26 |
Plastic explosives were recovered
from three youths who were targeting a power station in Assam’s
Dhemaji District on Republic Day. They were caught and arrested
following a chase. Three packets of plastic explosives, five packets
of fuse wire, six fuses and daggers were found in their possession.
The youths identified as Pranendra Wari, Nakesh Narzari and Hemkanta
Narzari were targeting the NHPC at the Gerukamukh Dam Site. It
was not known to which insurgent outfit they belonged to.
At least eight low-intensity explosions
were reported from two different Districts. While four explosions
were reported Porabhata, Medattari, Airkata and Chirakuti in Dhubri
District, another four were reported from Simlakandi, Jaleswar,
Gornagar and Merakuchi in Goalpara District. One of the blast
occurred near the house of Mainuddin Ahmed, AIUDF legislator,
from Jaleswar.
Immediately after the explosions
at Jaleswar, the villagers caught a motorcycle-borne man. Suspecting
he was the one carrying bombs, the villagers lynched him. The
man was later identified as Nazrul Islam Khan, a known criminal,
from the neighbouring Dhubri District.
Superintendent of Police (SP),
Goalpara, Shyamal Saikia said, “It seems the blasts were triggered
by a gang of criminals. We found a letter on a fake ULFA [United
Liberation Front of Asom] letterhead from the spot where he was
killed. The letter carried a demand for Rs. 1 crore [INR 10 million]".
The possibility of the involvement of Ulfa was very remote in
this case, added Saikia.
The State Government has sanctioned
eight new Police Stations in Udalguri District. This was stated
by the Deputy Commissioner, Thaneswar Malakar. The eight Police
Stations will be set up at Bhairabkunda, Lalpani, Borobazar, Bhakatpara,
Khagrabari, Goriajhar, Bhergaon and Amjuli.
|
| January 27 |
NDFB-RD has clarified that the
outfit was not behind any extortion demands in the region and
cautioned the people not to give away to the fake demands made
in the name of the outfit.
The 'Information and Publicity
Secretary' of the NDFB-RD, B Najib said that the outfit was not
behind the demand of INR five million as was reported in some
section of the media. The Publicity Secretary said that such demands
are being made by organizations who pose as NDFB-RD with the conspiracy
to malign the name of the outfit and to derail the outfit's peace
parleys with the Central Government.
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar
Shinde assured an official delegation led by a group of executive
members of the Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong autonomous District
councils that discussion on Autonomous State will be done at the
meeting of the state re-organisation committee, reports Nagaland
Post. Creation of an autonomous State within Assam has been a
long standing demand of the tribal population of the twin hill
Districts.
|
| January 28 |
SFs in an encounter killed a militant
belonging to the ULFA-ATF at Upper Khardung in Goalpara District.
Two troopers of the 19 Dogra Regiment of the Indian Army were
also injured during the exchange of fire. The ULFA-ATF militant
has been identified as Nayan Asom alias Babul Ali. SFs recovered
a pistol and three magazines from his possession. Militants also
lobbed grenades on SF personals during the encounter.
|
| January 29 |
Suspected ULFA-ATF militants blew
up an oil pipeline at Makum in Tinsukia District.
NDFB-PTF and the PJACBM [a body
supporting NDFB-PTF on Bodo State issue] strongly reacted on the
allegations levelled by the ruling BTC leaders, blaming NDFB-PTF
for rampant extortions and kidnapping in BTC areas. The 'Assistant
Information and Publicity Secretary', NDFB-PTF, R Daokha said
that the allegation of extortion and kidnapping in BTC areas levelled
by State Transport Minister Chandan Brahma and BTC Deputy Chairman,
Khampa Borgoyary in a demonstration held at Kajalgaon on January
28.
|
| January 30 |
MHA has released INR 13.57 billion
to the State Government to counter- insurgency between the period
1990-91 to 2012 [up to December 18] and the amount was transferred
to the State Government through Reserve Bank of India. This information
came as a reply to a Right to Information Act (RTI) query by a
State-based NGO, APW.
The RTI also revealed that ULFA
leader Anup Chetia's willingness on joining the ongoing peace
process between ULFA-PTF and Central Government is yet to be received.
Anup Chetia is the 'General Secretary' of ULFA and is presently
jailed in Bangladesh.
Beginning of formal talks with
the NDFB-RD will depend on the release of the chairman of the
outfit, Ranjan Daimary on bail.Meanwhile; Daimary has been able
to win over most of the rebels of the outfit to persuade them
to join the peace process.
Highly placed official sources
told the newspaper that though the Central Government's interlocutor
PC Haldar had conducted several rounds of informal talks with
NDFB-RD 'chairman' Ranjan Daimary in jail to pave the way for
formal talks with the outfit; it is still not decided as to when
the talks would start.
|
| January 31 |
NDFB-PTF softens its stand on
changing the Centre's interlocutor, P.C.Haldar for the peace talks
with the outfit. The next round of talks is scheduled to be held
on February 28. The Bodo militant outfit had earlier demanded
that the Centre should replace Haldar with a person of political
background.
MHA -Joint Secretary in charge
of North-east, Shambhu Singh said that the Government was not
responsible for the slow pace of negotiation with the Bodo militant
outfit. The tripartite talks were attended by officials of Assam
Government, the NDFB-PTF, besides the MHA.
|
| February 2 |
SFs arrested a suspected cadre
of NDFB-IKS Mithisat Narzary (22), from Aipoali in Bengtol area
under Chirang District. Police said he had demanded money from
a senior officer in the District.
Runikhata residents caught one
Jaiklong Basumatary alias Biren for demanding money from local
people posing as an NDFB cadre and handed him over to the Police
in Bongaigaon District. He confessed to making the demands and
named two accomplices, who were later arrested from Bhurdalang.
Suspected militants abducted a
businessman, Raju Saha (30), from Dotma in Kokrajhar District.
ABSU came down heavily on State
Chief Secretary Naba Kumar Das for accusing the Bodos in his affidavit
submitted to the Gauhati High Court, of instigating the riots
in lower Assam Districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri in 2012.
|
| February 3 |
Suspected militants belonging
to the NDFB-IKS exploded a powerful bomb in the railway tracks
at Goabari in Kokrajhar District. No casualty was reported. The
bomb suspected to have been planted by the NDFB-IKS exploded at
1.10am two minutes after the Howrah-Guwahati down Garibrath Express
passed the area between Gossaigaon and Fakiragram, Police said.
Operation wing of Assam Police
arrested four youths, who were on their way to Myanmar to join
the NDFB-IKS, from the interstate bus terminus (ISBT) in Guwahati
under Kamrup (Metro) District. The arrestees were identified as
Uttam Borgayari (23), Minu Basumatary (27), Anima Brahma (19)
and Bharati Basumatary (19). All of them hail from Chirang District
of BTAD.
Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind has claimed
that Bodo leaders have agreed to bring back all the people who
were compelled to leave the BTAD by the miscreants.Jamaat-e-Islami
Hind said top leaders of BTC have assured leaders of that all
riot victims will be rehabilitated at their native villages in
BTAD area.109 persons lost their lives during the Bodo-Muslim
clashes in Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri District in 2012.
SFs arrested four militants of
Karbi militant formation, UKLA from various hideouts in Karbi
Anglong District. According to additional Superintendent of Police
(ASP), Bolin Deury and officer in-charge of Bakulia Police Station,
Khorgeswar Bordoloi, based on the information, SFs arrested Jiten
Phangso from Natun basti. Police said that Jiten believed to be
the founder of UKL A is serving in Indian Reserve Battalion.
According to latest Government
report, at least 4834 militants of different outfits across seven
states in North Eastern (NE) region were killed in counter-insurgency
operations from 2001 to 2012. During the period, at least 1909
militants were killed in Manipur, while 1777 were killed in Assam,
536 in Nagaland, 307 in Tripura, 105 in Arunachal Pradesh and
9 in Mizoram.
According to the Government report,
in a single year, highest number of militants were killed in Manipur
in 2008.In Manipur, 341 militants were killed in 2008, while 161
were killed in the year 2001, 101 in 2002, 148 in 2003, 127 in
2004, 143 in 2005, 141 in 2006, 218 in 2007, 321 in 2009, 104
in 2010, 30 in 2011 and 74 in the year 2012.
In other hand, the year 2001 recorded
the highest number of militant fatalities under counter-insurgency
operations in Assam. In Assam, a total of 1777 militants were
killed during the period, in which, 275 were killed in the year
2002, 281 in 2003, 136 in 2004, 83 in 2005, 43 in 2006, 149 in
2007, 133 in 2008, 196 in 2009, 98 in 2010, 45 in 2011 and 55
in 2012.Most of the militants killed during counter-insurgency
operations were from United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA),"
a top official of the Assam Police said.
In Meghalaya, 191 militants were
killed during the period, the breakups being - 8 in the year 2001,
17 in 2002, 27 in 2003, 23 in 2004, 26 in 2005, 17 in 2006, 13
in 2007, 12 in 2008, 4 in 2009, 17 in 2010, 8 in 2011 and 19 in
2012.
|
| February 6 |
SFs recovered four AK-56 Assault
Rifles and four AK-56 magazines from Damsodiang Phai, Daiphai,
under Maibong Police Station in Dima Hasao District. The hidden
cache of arms is believed to have been left by the DHD group during
the period of ceasefire agreement. It is also believed that the
newly formed DJNA group has been trying to trace and recover the
said weapons for their subversive activities.
|
| February 7 |
Two militants of the GNLA were
killed, in a encounter with the SFs, along the Assam-Meghalaya
border at Ambringkona under Boko Police Station of Kamrup (Rural)
District. The slain militants are yet to be identified. SFs recovered
two 7.65mm pistols, seven rounds of ammunition, a large quantity
of AK-47 rifles and two demand notes of the outfit.
SFs arrested a suspected a MULTA
militant from the heart of the Nagaon town in Nagaon District.
A pistol and live ammunition were seized from him.
SFs arrested, Kishan Agarwal,
an owner of a garment shop at Tinsukia town's Daily Bazar for
collecting money on behalf of ULFA-ATF in Tinsukia District
|
| February 8 |
SFs arrested a militant belonging
to NDFB-RD, identified as Mathura Basumatary (25) alias
B Majumser, from Rangsaidham area of No -2 Amguri area under Basugaon
Police Station of Chirang District. One Chinese grenade was recovered
with him.
The state government of Assam
has agreed to a probe by the CBI into the seizure of FICN by officials
of the DRI, Guwahati from three accused persons arrested earlier
on August 30, 2012. The vehicle was on its way from Malda District
in West Bengal and FICN is reported to have been brought from
Bangladesh. Earlier, sources from the NIA said fake notes are
supplied from Pakistan via Bangladesh to border Districts of Assam
and West Bengal.
|
| February 9 |
KNA-Karbi Anglong unit observed
the 'Political Autonomy demand day' at its head office named Kuki-Kho
in Manja near Diphu in Karbi Anglong District. The celebration
was attended by all Kuki chiefs (Haosa), with other frontal Kuki
organizations including KRA and UKDA.
Miscreant targeted the Singra
weekly market under Boko PS in Kamrup (Rural) District and five
houses of the market were damaged by fire.
Eight militants of the newly-formed
outfit MPTF surrendered before SFs in Kokrajhar District. The
militant group, led by Hafizur Rahman, area commander of the outfit,
surrendered before the top police and army officials at Gossaigaon.
The militants deposited three .9mm pistols, two 7.6mm pistols,
three handmade rifles, one hand grenade and 14 rounds of ammunition."The
militant group was formed in 2012 during the ethnic violence in
lower Assam," a top police official said.
|
| February 10 |
CEM of KAAC, Joy Ram Engleng appealed
to KPLT militants to call off the indefinite Karbi Anglong District
strike beginning from 5 p.m. of February 12. However, KPLT 'chairman'
B.D. Sarpo Tungjang has dismissed the appeal and stated that,
"we have acknowledged the public appeal but this is the time for
asking for a separate state when government is mulling over the
issue, why should we sit at home; it is better to live in our
own land then in other people's house".
The Malang market near Boko in
Kamrup (Rural) District was set ablaze by the miscreants.
|
| February 11 |
A meeting of the central committee
members of the ULFA-PTF was held at a private lodge in Dispur
in Kamrup (Metro) District. Issues related to extradition of the
outfit's 'general secretary' Anup Chetia alias Golap Baruah from
Bangladesh and the faction's next round of talks with the Centre
was discussed at the meeting. Apart from 'Chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa,
senior leaders such as ULFA 'vice-chairman' Pradeep Gogoi, 'foreign
secretary' Sasadhar Choudhury, 'publicity secretary' Mithinga
Daimary, 'cultural secretary' Pranati Deka, among others, were
present at the meeting.
Unidentified miscreants on the
eve of third phase of Panchayat (local self government institution)
elections, set ablaze three Lower Primary (LP) schools namely
Bordamal Kamarpara LP school, Goraimari LP School and Doroni LP
School, all under PS in Goalpara District.
An LP school was partially damaged
at Nicinta, also under Agia PS.
sources said three schools, which
are stated to be voting centres for the Panchayat election on
February 12 namely Hatipara LP School, Machenokhowa LP School
and Sekhadari LP School under Boko Revenue Circle in Kamrup (rural)
District were partially burnt down on February 10 night causing
the voters to panic.
Miscreants set ablaze a truck
(WB-15-A- 9894) loaded with goods at Kharkhori under Chhaygaon
PS and another truck (AS-01 P-9950) was also set on fire at Bodapara
under Boko PS in Kamrup (rural) District.
About 500 activist of Rabha bodies
have staged a road blockade at Dairang under Krishnai PS in an
attempt to block the polling officials from moving to the polling
centres by that road.
The Agriculture Office at Dhudhnoi
in Goalpara district was also set ablaze by the miscreants.
The RHJMC, an umbrella organisation
of 34 groups, is opposing the holding of panchayat polls in RHAC
areas. RHJMC are opposed to panchayat polls in the Rabha-Hasong
area without holding RHAC election.
|
| February 11-12 |
Miscreants set ablaze at least
five voting centres and one sub-post office in Mirza under Kamrup
(rural) District.
|
| February 12 |
Eleven persons were killed and
many injured when SFs opened fire to quell groups of protesters
ransacking polling stations and preventing other voters from casting
their ballots at several places in the RHAC areas in Goalpara
District during the third and final phase of Panchayat
(village level local self Government institution) elections.
The clashes that erupted between
the SFs and groups of protesters armed with machetes, knives,
iron rods and sticks left three dead at Kathalmuri Palsa under
Dhupdhara Police Station, two at Kachadal under Ranjuli Police
Station, one at Siluk under Dudhnoi Police Station, three at Bekipool
under Khrishnai Police Station and two at Dhuptola under Mornoi
Police Station.
According to sources, four columns
of Army have been pressed into service to contain the situation
in the district amid unconfirmed reports of fresh group clashes
spreading to new areas.
Curfew was clamped in the areas
under Mornoi Police Station after fresh reports of group clashes
between two communities were reported from Dhuptola area following
killing of two persons who allegedly placed two hand bombs outside
the polling station at Raikhashini Jawaharlal Nehru Vidyalaya.
Earlier, mob set ablaze a village under Krishnai Police Station
where around 60 houses were destroyed. The mob also indulged in
brick-batting and torched two police vehicles, a bus and a Bolero
vehicle standing on NH-37 leaving some CRPF personnel and the
Officer-in Charge of Krishnai Police Station, Haten Ali Ahmed,
injured.
According to official sources,
the Goalpara District recorded a peaceful polling of 60 percent
at the 659 polling centres while polling could not take place
at the rest 173 centres.
PM Manmohan Singh while addressing
a conference of State Governors in New Delhi has said that LWE
geographical spread in the country is showing a shrinking trend
even though in Assam, it is expanding, which is "worrisome".
SFs killed a militant belonging
to NDFB-IKS, identified as Pri Pri Mushahary, somewhere near the
Ripu reserve forest under Kachugaon Police Station in Gossaigaon
sub division of Kokrajahar District. One 7.65 mm pistol factory
made, two 7.65 mm live rounds and one mobile phone were recovered
from the site. However, another NDFB-IKS militant managed to escape
in the thick forest.
The body of abducted businessman
Raju Saha (30), of Dotma in Kokrajhar District, was recovered
from the approaching road to National Highway 31-C, about 150
meters from Serfanguri Police Station in the same District in
the night. Local People suspect the hands of the NDFB-IKS behind
the killing of Saha.
The AABYF condemned the killing
and threatened the militant group involved in the killing and
the government of dire consequence if effective measures are not
taken immediately.
|
| February 12-13 |
Death toll in violence during third
phase of Panchayat (local self Government institution) polls in
RHAC areas of Goalpara District has risen to 20. 12 people had died
as a result of Police firing when violent mobs of comprising the
Rabha people attacked polling centres and polling teams to obstruct
the holding of Panchayat polls on February 12. One more person
later died in the Police firing on a mob that was indulging in arson
and looting. Besides this, bodies of seven persons killed in clashes
between Rabha and non-Rabha groups were recovered. |
| February 13 |
CM Tarun Gogoi revealed that 19
people lost their lives in the RHAC violence, of which six died
in ethnic clashes. "Twelve persons died in Police firing during
poll violence, one during loot and arson, and six in ethnic clashes.
About 70, including 30 policemen, were injured, while over a hundred
houses were burnt," Gogoi said. Gogoi, while admitting that there
were lapses on the part of the Government and the administration,
said that the violence was an 'organized one' with vested interest
circles lending their weight behind it. UNI quoted Tarun
Gogoi saying, "I take full responsibility for failing to provide
adequate security. There were some lapses and we had no prior
information."
The violence has triggered an
exodus of people from affected villages, forcing over 12,000 people
to take shelter in 12 relief camps till February 13 afternoon,
even as the Army has been continuing flag marches. There was no
relaxation in the curfew clamped in Krishnai and Mornoi Police
Station areas.
Two houses were set ablaze in
fresh incidents on the outskirts of Goalpara town in Goalpara
District. Two fire brigade personnel, who had gone there, also
received bullet injuries.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi termed
the Rabha Accord as faulty.
|
| February 14 |
A goodwill mission team of the
APCC comprising several senior leaders, visiting the violence
hit areas of Goalpara District, was attacked at the Rangagora
Lower Primary School camp inmates. Rangagora Lower Primary School
is being used as relief camp by the violence-hit people of the
greater Gobindapur area. According to reports, the APCC delegation
was headed by vice president YL Karna. Several vehicles were also
damaged in the incident. About 10,650 displaced people have been
put up in 12 relief camps.
The State government admitted
that it is not constitutionally competent to exclude autonomous
council areas from the Panchayat Act, yet it went ahead to promise
this to the Rabhas 17 years ago. The CMO issued a statement signed
by the Chief Minister's press adviser, Bharat Chandra Narah, which
said, "Clause 5 of the Rabha Hasong Accord signed between the
Government of Assam and the All Rabha Students Union and the Rabha
Hasong Demand Committee on March 10, 1995 at Dispur was unconstitutional
because the state government has no jurisdiction to exclude Rabha
Hasong Autonomous Council areas from the purview of 73rd Amendment
of the Constitution of India under Article 244M." Narah further
said that though Clause 5 existed in the accord, it was not included
when the state legislative assembly passed the Rabha Hasong Autonomous
Council Act in 1995 to give legality to the accord.
The supporters of Kokrajhar District
committee of the ARSU during the 12-hour BTAD bandh (general strike)
called by the same organisation set ablaze a car and a bike at
Magurmari Rabha Basti in Kokrajhar District. All the business
establishments, markets and shops remained closed while vehicles
were off the road during the bandh period. The National
Highway 31(C) also wore a deserted look.
A Congress Party office and three
trucks were set ablaze and vehicles damaged during the bandh
in Udalguri District. Unidentified persons poured kerosene on
the Congress office, Rajib Bhavan, at Tangla in Udalguri District
and set ablaze its wooden doors and windows. Police fired in the
air at Kalaigaon to disperse a group of persons using violent
means to impose the bandh by forcing shop-owners to close down
their shops. At Khoirabari in the same District, some persons
set ablaze three trucks and blocked roads to prevent movement
of vehicles.
Markets, shops, offices, banks,
educational institutions remained closed and vehicles kept off
the roads in the BTAD comprising Kokrajhar, Udalguri, Baksa and
Chirang Districts.
ABSU had also supported the bandh
and observed a Black Day.
|
| February 15 |
Three persons were killed and
four seriously injured in clashes and Police firing at Hatsinghimari
in Dhubri District, the second day of counting of votes for panchayat
(village level local self Government institution) polls in Assam.
Sources in Dhubri district administration said a large number
of people had started gathering in front of Hatsinghimari counting
centre since early morning, alleging that the process for counting
and declaration of results had been delayed inordinately.
Counting was stopped and indefinite
curfew clamped at Hatsinghimari town, where the counting for panchayat
polls under South Salmara-Mancachar subdivision was taking place.
The administration also issued shoot-at-sight orders.
SFs arrested a militant belonging
to KPLT, identified as Prabin Rongpi, from the Balipathar area
under Bokajan Police Station in Karbi Anglong District. Police
seized cash worth INR 50,000, a revolver and two live ammunitions
from him. Police said a group of KPLT militants were in the Balipathar
area to attack businessmen who did not support their bandh
(General Shut down) and opened their business establishments during
bandh hours.
Normal life in the District has
been affected as the indefinite Karbi Anglong bandh (General
Shut down) imposed by KPLT entered its fourth day. The bandh called
by KPLT militants started on 5 pm of February 12. No untoward
incident has so far been received from any part of the District.
Government offices barring the Deputy Commissioner's office all
other government offices have remained closed, while no vehicular
movement was visible.
Two persons were injured and two
vehicles damaged as suspected KPLT militants opened fire on NH
37 near Kaziranga National Park in the night. The area falls under
Kohora Police outpost in Golaghat District neighbouring Karbi
Anglong.
Armed suspected militants abducted
a young engineer of a private construction firm engaged by Power
Grid Corporation of India from Betagaon in Baksa District. The
Police said they were yet to identify the abductors. Sources in
Baksa said the NDFB, which has a strong base in the area, might
have demanded money from the construction firm and abducted the
engineer as it refused to pay them. No one from the company was
available for comment.
SFs arrested two NDFB linkmen
from Chirang District
|
| February 16 |
Four militants belonging to the
ULFA-ATF, including a senior leader, surrendered before SFs in
Tinsukia District. Among the militants who laid down their arms
is senior ULFA-ATF leader Rahendra Moran alias Guli Asom,
Parikshit Moran, Champak Hazarika and Kushal Buragohain. Rahendra
Moran alias Guli Asom was responsible for the ULFA-ATF's
extortion related activities in the upper Assam Districts.
State Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi
said that the situation in violence hit Goalpara District is now
peaceful and the displaced people will be rehabilitated soon.
"Situation in Rabha-Hasong area is now peaceful. Sense of security
among the people has returned and the government will make all
efforts to ensure their security," Gogoi told reporters. The Rabha
Hasong Joint Action Committee (RHJAC) led protest of panchayat
(local-level self governing body) polls, had turned violent on
February 12 (panchayat election day) with a total of 20
people killed in incidents of Police firing, arson and clashes.
|
| February 17 |
KPLT temporarily suspended the
indefinite Karbi Anglong bandh (shutdown strike) from 5
am February 18 in view of the HSLC examination. Meanwhile, the
KPLT's general secretary further threatened that if the demand
for a separate State is not voiced by the Member of Parliament
(MP), Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) s and Member of Autonomous
Council (MAC) s before March 15, the organization will again call
an indefinite bandh from March 15.
AASU & members of the AATS staged
a sit-in protest against the violence in Rabha Hasong areas near
Raj Bhawan in Guwahati.
A Bangladeshi national, Aminul
Islam, 35, was apprehended by the SFs from Panchughat of Dhubri
town in Dhubri District.
|
| February 18 |
A satellite phone and a Chinese
grenade were recovered from Nakathalgurie in Tinsukia District,
during an encounter between SFs and ULFA-ATF rebels.
NEC, a subsidiary of the Coal
India Limited CIL, has been incurring a loss of nearly INR 10
million daily following the closure of Tikak colliery at Margherita
in Tinsukia District bordering Arunachal Pradesh. The colliery
was shut down in January after four workers of a private company
engaged there were abducted by suspected Naga militants.
|
| February19 |
Police arrested five armed men
from the Deberapar area under Mariani Police Station in Jorhat
District. The arrested were identified as Asang Injeng, Mireng
Injeng, Tussung Injeng, Chened Ayer and Aleng Longkumar. Police
recovered two pistols, 13 rounds of live ammunition and cash worth
INR 35,000 from them. "We arrested the five at Deberapar Chariali
at around 12.30 am on Tuesday. They were travelling from Mokokchung
to Chairmanbasti in Nagaland,'' officer-in-charge of Mariani Police
Station Padma Kanta Das said.
State Chief Minister Gogoi accompanied
by Home Secretary, GD Tripathi visited Goalpara District to take
stock of the law and order situation and to meet the camp inmates
who were affected by poll-related violence in Rabha Hasong areas.CM,
Gogoi assured them that the Government would provide necessary
protection and rehabilitate them soon. Altogether 434 houses were
fully gutted in Matia and 165 in Balijana revenue circles of the
District.
|
| February 20 |
An unidentified GNLA militant
was killed in an encounter with SFs at Dokapara under Lakhipur
police station of Goalpara district. The Police recovered a 7.65mm
US-made pistol, two magazines, seven rounds of ammunition, letter
heads of GNLA and a bike from the victim, a police source in Lakhipur
said.
The Police Forces of the States
of the North East region have decided to launch coordinated efforts
to check the Maoist rebels from establishing strong roots in the
region. The forces are also of the view that the peace talks with
the militant groups, which have already signed cease- fire agreements,
should be expedited.
A meeting of the heads of the
Police Forces of the North East States, convened by the Union
MHA, which concluded in Gangtok in Sikkim, discussed in detail
the efforts by the Maoist rebels to establish roots in the North
East region and observed that there is need for formulating strategies
to check the growth of the Maoists and all the States decided
to launch coordinated efforts in this regard. The meeting observed
that though the militant groups have weakened in 2011 and 2012,
in recent times, the level of violence has gone up, which is a
matter of serious concern.
|
| February 21 |
ULFA-ATF militant, 'deputy commander-in-chief',
Bijoy Das alias Bijoy Chinese, has come overground to join the
peace process. Bijoy Chinese is also the eastern zone commander
of ULFA-ATF, surfaced about a week ago and was with the SFs in
Tinsukia. Bijoy Chinese on February 21 told reporters in Tinsukia
that he would join the ULFA-PTF soon. "It took me some time to
return," he said, adding "More cadres of the anti-talks faction
will join the pro-talks faction soon."
UDLF announced its "avowed intention"
to return to the mainstream by surrendering arms. UDLF was formerly
known as the UDLA operates mainly in parts of Karimganj and Hailakandi
Districts. Spokesperson for the outfit, Rajesh Charki, said that
the UDLF had declared that it would observe ceasefire for six
months from yesterday and keep in abeyance all its insurgent operations.
ULFA-ATF' Vice Chairman' Paresh
Baruah has switched off his entire mobile and satellite phones
and shifted to Skype. This is the last bit of information intelligence
agencies intercepted while eavesdropping on Baruah's conversations
about a week ago.
|
| February 22 |
Unidentified men hurled two grenades
at Belsiri under Missamari Police station in Sonitpur District.
Five criminals came on two motorcycles hurled the first grenade
at a shop but it did not explode and the second into a field,
which exploded.
A NDFB militant identified as
Simang Brahma, was arrested from Rowmari in Chirang District in
a joint operation by Police and the Army.
Speculation over the disappearance
of Majoni Das, a teacher with Purva Bharati Educational Trust
here, with ULFA-ATF claiming that she had joined the outfit. Majoni,
a resident of Udaipur village under Demow police station in Sivasagar
District, had been reported missing since February 10.
A release issued by the outfit's
publicity secretary, Arunudoi Dohotia, claimed that Majoni, who
is a human rights activist, writer and a patriot, "managed to
escape the evil design of Sivasagar police which had planned to
eliminate her, arrived at an Ulfa camp and joined the outfit".
Her family alleged that the Police were constantly harassing Majoni
for her alleged links with a senior ULFA leader.
The RHJMF strongly objected to
a draft of the list of villages for delimitation. The forum strongly
objected to the draft that deleted the names of several villages
from Goalpara and Kamrup Districts and did not maintain the contiguity
of villages. ARSU president Tonkeswar Rabha alleged that five
villages from Goalpara and 10 villages from Kamrup districts were
found deleted from the draft list compared to the last draft published
in 2005.
Preparations for the polls got
under way following the publication of the draft of village councils
and general council for delimitation on February 21 in all the
block development offices, circle offices and offices of Goalpara
and Kamrup deputy commissioners, an official source in Goalpara
said. The state election commission announced the polls to the
Rabha Hasong Council in January.
ULFA-ATF ‘Vice president’ Paresh
Baruah claimed that recent surrenders of a few senior members
of the ULFA, including the surrender of ‘deputy commander-in-chief’
Bijoy Chinese, would not affect the outfit. Baruah said, “We are
hopeful that one day the global political scene will turn in our
favour. If you look at history, no country could dominate any
area against the wishes of the people and even the British had
to leave India. Over the years, new countries were born out of
changes in the global political scene and some day such a scene
will come in our favour.
|
| February 23 |
SFs arrested a NDFB militant,
identified as Moni Narjery, from the Misamari area of Sonitpur
District. The arrested militant was arrested with a grenade. Narjery
was a militant of NDFB's Sangbijit faction and was involved in
February 22, 2013 grenade blast near Belsiri railway station.
SFs arrested an AANLA militant,
identified as Sunil Munda (35), from Hathimara in Udalguri District.
DHD-N, which had signed a tripartite
peace accord in New Delhi on October 8, 2012, will celebrate its
formal "homecoming" on March 9 in Haflong. The 'chairman' DHD-N,
Dilip Nunisa, on February 22 said that Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi
had agreed to be present on that day.
|
| February 24 |
SFs arrested five persons, including
two NDFB militants and three linkmen, from Koiemari in Baksa District.
SFs recovered a .9mm pistol, six mobile sets and two bikes from
the militants.
The NDFB-PTF threatened not to
take part in the peace dialogue, being held for past seven years,
with the Central Government unless it is held at the political
level to resolve its demand for Bodoland state.
ULFA-ATF 'Vice-President', Paresh
Barua said that he has not created any faction in the outfit and
appealed to the media not to identify the organisation with him.
In a statement emailed to media here, Barua clarified that he
was not the head of ULFA and was only a fellow official. "I cannot
represent the organisation and instead Ulfa carries our identity.
Our chairman, Abhijit Asom, is our head and we all function as
per his directives," Barua said.
Formal talks with the NDFB-RD
are yet to be started. The initiation of formal talks with the
NDFB-RD would depend on the release of Daimary on bail.
|
| February 25 |
A truck driver from West Bengal,
Mohidul Sheikh (36), was abducted by unidentified persons at Nangdolbari
under Sidli Police Station in Chirang District on February 25.
SFs arrested two ULFA linkmen,
Rahimuddin (18) and Baktar Ali (24), in Dhubri District.
The PJACBM has called a 100-hour
strike in the BTAD and its adjoining tribal-dominated areas from
February 28-midnight in protest against what it termed the State
Government’s “lackadaisical” attitude towards the Bodoland issue.
State DGP Jayanta Narayan Choudhury
said that a section of the banned ULFA leaders were still “under
illusion that establishing a ‘sovereign Assam’ was possible because
of their ‘misconception’ about the colonial occupation of Indian
State of Assam”.
The GNC, in a meeting held at
Hudakona in Goalpara District, renamed itself as Garo National
Union GNU. It strongly opposed the inclusion of villages dominated
by Garo people in the RHAC area for which a draft was published
on February 21 referring the delimitation of villages in Goalpara
and Kamrup Districts.
Centre has decided to act tough
with insurgent groups in the Northeast and has decided that it
will not sign agreements with insurgents as it was proving a futile
exercise.
|
| February 26 |
An ULFA-ATF militant lobbed a
grenade at a Police team at Kenduguri bypass area in Jorhat in
Jorhat District, injuring two SF personnel. The injured were identified
as Constable Keshab Gogoi and home guard Bolin Sonowal. Constable
Gogoi managed to snatch a bag containing a bottle grenade and
28 rounds of live ammunition of AK-47 rifle from the militants.
Police have picked up four persons, identified as Pankaj Bora,
Ranjit Dutta, Mintu Bora and Arpan Jyoti Lahon, for questioning.
CISF recovered an IED during a
normal security drill near Noonmati Refinery in Guwahati under
Kamrup (metro) District. The explosives containing ammonium nitrate
and ball bearings placed in a tin can, a detonator and some fuse
wires were found inside a bag just outside the refinery’s boundary
wall.
Two militants belonging to MPTFA
surrendered along with arms and ammunition before the Intelligence
Wing of the Army located at Chaprakata of Bongaigaon in presence
of Kokrajhar Additional SP. The two cadres were identified as
Mohammad Sahajahan Ali (22) and Mohammad Jahinul Islam (25).
An official release stated that
as many as 12,644 displaced people due to the Bodo-Muslim clashes
in 2012 are still living in 20 relief camps. Of which 4615 are
in Kokrajhar District, all of whom belonging to the minority community
and 395 Bodo and 7634 minority people are living in camps in Chirang
District.
State Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi
called for special treatment for all CPI-Maoist affected Districts
of the State. Referring to ULFA, the Chief Minister expressed
his confidence that Paresh Barua would one day join the peace
process. The support base of the militant outfit has shrunk and
ULFA has weakened over the years. “Today, I am in a better position
to control ULFA,” he said.
|
| February 27 |
An engineer of the PGCL, abducted
by suspected militants and taken to their camp in Bhutan, was
released. SP Raju, hailing from Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, arrived
at Ghawra Chowk police station in Baksa District and informed
the Police about his release. The engineer was abducted by suspected
NDFB-IKS militants on February 15.
Union Home Ministry took three
days to request Army for deployment, according to information
collected under RTI by the CHRI. “Reports say major incidents
of violence erupted on July 20 and the State government wrote
to the MHA on July 21. The order for deployment of armed forces
went out to the DGMO [Director-General Military Operations] by
fax on July 24 at 9:22 p.m. There seems to be a gap of three days
between the request for assistance and the order issued for deployment,”
says CHRI programme coordinator (access to information programme)
Venkatesh Nayak.
UHM, Sushil Kumar Shinde justified
holding panchayat (local self governing body)
elections in the RHAC area and the Police firing on “group of
miscreants” in Goalpara District that killed 14 people. “The security
forces had to resort to firing to control the violence at six
places. This resulted in deaths of 14 persons. Other seven persons
died due to ethnic clashes,” UHM, Shinde said.
He said while eight Districts
went to the polls in Assam on February 12, the third and last
phase, only in Goalpara was election disrupted “by a large group
of miscreants” who attacked polling and security personnel. He
added that the situation was now under control and the government
would pay ex gratia of INR 500,000 to the next of kin of the firing
victims.
A civilian, Nikul Paul (29), was
injured when unidentified assailants fired at him at Nutunmati
in Baksa District.
Two militants of MPTP, identified
as Hafizul Rahman (32) and Moinul Hoque (27) surrendered at the
Gossaigaon Police Station under Kokrajhar District.
|
| February 28 |
NDFB-PTF did not participate in
a tripartite meeting in New Delhi, sticking to its stand of not
participating in peace talks unless these are held at the highest
political level.
Non-tribal and Garo bodies here
are determined not to allow any polls in the RHAC, if the villages
with non-tribal majority were not excluded from the proposed draft
delimitation of constituencies for the autonomous council. The
RHAC polls are set be conducted on April 30.
SFs arrested a suspected militant
of DNLF at Hatikhali in Dima Hasao District. The militant, identified
as Son Khelma, was arrested when he came to collect extortion
money from a bank in the area, police sources said.
|
| March 1 |
Normal life was affected and a
bike was set on fire on the first day of the 100-hour bandh
(shutdown strike) called by the PJACB since midnight. The committee
has called the bandh in the proposed Bodoland area, comprising
BTAD and adjoining tribal-dominated areas, in protest against
the State Government’s “lackadaisical” attitude towards their
demand for a separate state under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution.
The committee also wants the Centre to hold a dialogue with the
NDFB-PTF at the highest political level.
Joint secretary in the MHA, Shambhu
Singh and former IB chief P.C. Haldar, who is the interlocutor
in the ongoing Bodo peace process, visited Guwahati to hold discussions
with State Government officials on the NDFB-PTF’s non-participation
in February 28 talks.
NIA special judge, Samarjit Dey
convicted DHD-J linkman, Samir Ahmed under Section 19 of the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act [UAPA] in NIA case number 02/2009.
Ahmed was set free following the sentence, as he had already spent
more than three years in prison during the investigation and trial
of the case.
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar
Shinde will attend the ‘home coming ceremony’ of DHD-N militants
at Haflong in the same District on March 9. A MoS was signed between
the Government and the outfit on October 8 2012.
State DGP J.N. Choudhury expressed
hope that ULFA-ATF leader Paresh Baruah will also return to the
mainstream and join the peace process initiated by Arabinda Rajkhowa
led ULFA-PTF. The DGP said Baruah might also join the peace talks
at a later stage if he founds its progress favourable.
|
| March 4 |
A motorcycle and a goods carrier
were set ablaze as the 100-hour proposed “Bodoland” bandh (general
Shutdown) announced by the PJACBM from the midnight of February
28 paralysed life for the fourth consecutive day. Both the incidents
were reported in Kokrajhar District. PJACBM is demanding the creation
of Bodoland state comprising BTAD and adjoining tribal-dominated
areas, under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution, which is not
supported by State Government. PJACBM also wants the Centre to
hold a dialogue with the NDFB-PTF at the highest political level.
The NRCF urged Governor Janaki
Ballav Patnaik to take immediate steps to exclude the villages
dominated by non-tribals from the RHAC areas, which are scattered
over Goalpara and Kamrup (Rural) Districts.
|
| March 5 |
The State Government clarified
that contrary to rumours, the proposal to grant ST status to six
communities had not been rejected by the RGI. It was still under
the consideration of the RGI. The six communities involve Koch
Rajbongshis, Tai Ahoms, Morans, Mottacks, Chutias and tea tribes.
WPT & BC Minister, Rajiv Lochan
Pegu then informed the State Assembly that the rumour that the
RGI had rejected the proposal to grant ST status to the six communities
was baseless..
Two militants of the NDFB-IKS,
surrendered before the officers of the Red Horns Division of the
Army and Police at Kokrajhar District. The two surrendered militants
were identified as ‘second lieutenant’ John Islary alias Jwngsar
and N Jangkrithai alias Jigkanta Narzary (26).
John Islary was the former Commanding Officer (CO) of Western
Command and is now the CO of the Central Region of the NDFB-IKS.
ULFA-ATF has declared its
slain leader ‘sergeant major’ Dilip Asom alias Rajen
Saikia as ‘national martyrs’ of their revolution.
The leader was killed in an encounter with Army at Diyun in Arunachal
Pradesh on March 3.
|
| March 6 |
State DGP J.N. Choudhary has warned
that forces inimical to the state might try to carry out blasts
during the Assembly session.
Non-Rabha and non-tribal organisations
under NRCF strongly opposed the inclusion of respective villages
in the RHAC in a rally held at Bhalukdubi lower primary school
field near Goalpara District on March 6. The protesters demanded
the exclusion of 394 villages in Goalpara and Kamrup Districts
dominated by non-Rabha and non-tribal people from the draft list
of 770 villages.
ULFA-PTF is upset with the Centre’s
handling of Anup Chetia’s deportation, as they want him to join
the ongoing dialogue with the Central Government. A seven-member
delegation of the pro-talk faction, led by ‘chairman’ Arabinda
Rajkhowa arrived in New Delhi on March 6 to take part in the next
round of political dialogue on March 7. The discussion, to be
held at the Home Secretary level, would also be attended by Centre’s
interlocutor PC Haldar.
The NDFB-PTF has made it clear
that it would not accept any alternative arrangement other than
a separate State of Bodoland.
One woman was arrested from Kamalpur
area of Kamrup Rural District along with FICN of a face value
of INR 25,000.
40,626 Bangladeshis, who were
declared as illegal migrants have evaded deportation over the
years. Assam Accord implementation Minister, Himanta Biswa
Sarma, in a written reply to a question by Asom Gana Parishad
(AGP) legislator Keshab Mahanta, informed the house on March 6
that the Police have been instructed to nab these illegal migrants
so that they can be deported to their country. "Police in
every District are on their look out and there have been a few
arrests too," the minister stated in his reply.
ABSU has demanded issuance of
Inner Line Permits (ILPs) for people coming from outside the state
to check the unabated influx of outsiders, mainly from Bangladesh.
ABSU ‘president’ Promod Boro and ‘general secretary’ Romeo P Narzary,
in a memorandum sent to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday,
said the lands in tribal belts and blocks are being occupied by
non-tribals and Bangladeshis, but the government machineries have
done nothing to protect these lands from the encroachers.
|
| March 7 |
SFs arrested two militants of
APA, identified as Jermis Munda and Markush Munda, at Paharpur
under Kumarikata Police Station in Baksa District. SFs recovered
five rifles, two hand grenades, 45 detonators from their possession.
The negotiations between the Central
Government and ULFA-PTF have reached a crucial stage with
the militant leaders claiming that they have received positive
vibes from the Government. “Yes, talks were successful”, Union
Home Secretary, RK Singh later told newsmen.
State Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi
said that the level of insurgency has come down because of development.
He further stated that doors of the Government are open for all,
who sought solution of their problems through talks.
Publication of the final draft
of villages of RHAC, scheduled to be published on March 8, will
be delayed as numerous claims and objections are still being heard
in Goalpara and Kamrup Districts. Official sources in the two
Districts said draft of village councils and general council published
in the block development offices, circle and deputy commissioners’
offices on February 20 received numerous claims and objections
till the last date of February 28.
|
| March 8 |
ULFA-ATF received a big jolt following
surrendering of its 11 cadres before the Deputy Commissioner of
Tinsukia (District) at a brief function held at Tinsukia.
The surrendered militants were identified as Monoranjan Gogoi
alias Kanu alias Minto Asom, Dipen Saikia alias Raja Asom, Manik
Dohotia alias Meghon Asom, Hayanta Saikia alias Joi Asom, Bulen
Moran alias Devid Asom, Rantu Moran alias Ashim Asom, Mizo Gohain
alias Andhi Asom, Hemkanta Changmai alias Jatin Khanka, Dhania
Saikia alias Kancha, Dharmen Sonowal alias Janbha and Raju Moran
alias Robit.
Bijoy Chinese, Deputy Chief and
a close associate of Paresh Baruah, who recently surrendered had
stated that a number of hardcore militants were waiting to surrender
within a short time. The surrender was a part of the process,
Police claimed.
Five suspected NDFB-ATF cadres
hatching a plan to abduct a bank employee from Guwahati city were
arrested from the Christianbasti area. The arrested cadres have
been identified as Gajen Boro alias Lenra, Sanjiv Swargiary alias
Ranjal, Jita Boro, Mithuyal Basumatary and Vijay Ramchiary. All
of them are from Baksa District.
Taking the next step towards fulfilment
of the demands made by the ULFA-PTF, the Centre is likely to start
the process of inter-ministerial deliberations to work out a package.
The Centre’s latest move was conveyed to the team of pro-talk
leaders at the tripartite meeting held in New Delhi on March 7.
At the meeting, Union Home Secretary, R.K. Singh reviewed the
progress so far made in talks with ULFA. After detailed discussion,
it was decided to follow up on a few specific steps on some issues,
said official sources.
|
| March 9 |
Miscreants blew up a State Government-run
lower primary school at Kachurthal village under Ramnathpur Police
station areas in Hailakandi District near Mizoram border. Police
said the blast was triggered by suspected Mizoram-based miscreants.
However, there was no report of any loss of life. Sources said
border dispute between the two neighboring States has been a contentious
issue for past many years. Mizos claim Kachurthal village is within
the boundary of Mizoram. They have been opposing the construction
of the school in question by Assam authorities. In 2012, the school
was damaged due to similar blast.
The DHD, was disbanded. At the
same time, Dilip Nunisa, the chief of the outfit, announced the
formation of a new political party called Halali Progressive Groups
(HPG) at a home-coming ceremony in Haflong, the headquarters of
Dima Hasao district.
Nunisa was spearheading an armed
struggle for the creation of Dimaraji, a separate Dimasa State
comprising Dimasa-inhabited areas of Assam and Nagaland, till
his outfit signed a ceasefire agreement with the Centre on January
1, 2003. He said his new party will contest in the coming
election to the Dima Hasao Autonomous Council. He said the HPG
will work for a peaceful, developed and progressive Dima Hasao.
|
| March 10 |
Accusing the State Government
of totally failing in updating the NRC, the AASU, demanded that
both the State Government and the Centre take urgent initiative
to implement the Assam Accord in its letter and spirit. The AASU
will resort to a Statewide 30-hour fast from 6 am on March 19
at every District headquarters where a 30-member body of the AASU
would take part.
|
| March 11 |
Two persons were injured in a
bomb blast at a weekly market in Doiangmukh weekly market in Kheroni
area of Karbi Anglong District. Police have detained 15 persons
for interrogation in connection with the blast and confirmed it
as the handiwork of militants.
A bomb weighing one kilogram was
recovered from a public bus at Bongaigaon bus stand near Lower
Assam Hospital and Research Centre in Bongaigaon District. No
one has been arrested yet in this connection and investigation
is on. The bomb was defused later.
A total of 1,989 people have died
in violence by militants and miscreants in the present BTAD areas
since the movement for a separate State of Bodoland in 1987. Further,
only one accused out of the 426 has so far been punished. The
trial of 49 cases has been completed, resulting in the acquittal
of 48 and the rest of the cases are pending.
198 of the total 416 cases pending
against the BLT had been withdrawn as on January 2012. Of the
remaining 218 cases, petition has been filed for withdrawal of
209 cases following recommendation by the screening committees
of the districts concerned. Six cases are under consideration
of the screening committees and three are under investigation.
The next of kin of those killed
in violence during 1987 to June 22, 2004 have been paid compensation
of INR 100,000, and for those killed after June 22, 2004, an amount
of INR 300,000 has been paid to the next of kin. A total of INR
19.80 crore has been spent in the compensation since 2007-08 till
date.
This was revealed in a written
reply by Forest Minister Rockybul Husain (on behalf of the Home
Minister) to a question by HB Ahmed of AIUDF in the State Assembly.
SFs arrested two AANLA militants,
Bhimsen Kerketa and John Basbech, from Gholapani near Uarimghat
along the Assam-Nagaland border in Golaghat District. The duo
was involved in the killing of a teacher Jimmy Brown Buragohain,
his wife and daughter in the same District in December 18, 2012.
AANLA had demanded money from the teacher a few months before
the incident and Buragohain had not heeded to the outfit's demand.
SFs arrested an illegal Bangladeshi
migrant, identified as Ghulam Mustafa (45), from the char area
of Khagrachar under Sukhchar Police Station in Dhubri District.
SFs recovered FICN worth INR 298,000, in the denominations of
INR 1000 and INR 500 from his possession.
AASAA-Karbi Anglong has accused
Joy Ram Engleng led KAAC of extending "passive" support to certain
persons of "doubtful motive" in grabbing land belonging to Adivasi
community in various places of Karbi Anglong District. In a release,
president of AASAA, Anil Toppo held KAAC responsible for allowing
Sanjit Timung and Dilip Kramsa both ex-cadres of UPDS of evicting
hundreds of Adivasi people from Hotokajan and Lahorijan tea estate
model village, Khatkati block-2 at gun point and occupying 200
bighas of land recently.
|
| March 12 |
Chirang District administration
has begun the final phase of rehabilitation of the Bodo-Muslim
ethnic clashes-affected people. At least 2,726 inmates are still
taking shelter in five relief camps in the District.
Minister of State for Home Affairs
M Ramachandran stated that insurgent groups in the Northeastern
region are getting arms and ammunition from China, MoS for Home
Affairs, M Ramachandran replied with a "no" when asked whether
the Government has received information regarding assistance provided
by China to separatist groups involved in large-scale violence
that took place in the north-eastern states in recent years.
A civilian driver, identified
as Sukumar Das (32), was abducted by a group of suspected militants
belonging to the NDFB-IKS near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border
in Sonitpur District. The daring abduction took place even though
the driver was accompanied by three army troopers of the intelligence
department from the Army base in Misamari.
|
| March 13 |
SFs arrested one militant of NDFB-IKS,
identified as Phunka Narzary (19), from Oguri village under Bijni
Police Station in Chirang District on March 13. S Saikia, Officer-in-Charge,
Basugaon Police Station, following the arrest, said, "One 7.65
mm pistol, three live ammunition and one hand grenade were recovered
from him. We have allegations that he was involved in several
extortion cases. We started investigation over the matter."
KPLT decided to postpone the indefinite
period Karbi Anglong Bandh (General shutdown). 'chairman' of KPLT,
B.D. Sarpo Tung Ajang said that to achieve state hood peoples
overwhelming support was necessary and that such a movement in
Karbi Anglong was unimaginable.
The RHAC elections scheduled for
April 30 is likely to be delayed owing to the continuing process
of preparing the final draft of villages and general councils
for delimitation. Though the state election commission extended
the date of publishing of the final draft from March 8 to 15,
officials in Goalpara expressed their inability to complete the
process within the deadline adds the report.
Suspected Adivasi militants abducted
a schoolteacher, Lebi Tete, from his residence in Paharline Kuani
village in Bogijan area under Golaghat Police Station in Golaghat
District on March 13. Police arrested five persons for interrogation,
but they haven't got any leads in the case so far.
The CPI-Maoist is in the process
of appointing local area commanders in the Sonitpur District,
security agencies have ascertained. The next step would be the
selection of cadres and their training to set up armed squads,
sources revealed.
The Union MoS for Home Affairs
M Ramachandran said in Parliament that consensus on the definition
of 'Assamese people' and the criteria for the reservations in
the Parliament, State legislatures, and local bodies could not
be arrived at and the proposal could not reach its logical conclusion.
The Central and State Governments are nowhere near implementation
of the Clause Six of Assam Accord, despite the lapse of 28 years,
the report added. The clause deals with the reservation of seats
to the Parliament, State legislatures, and local bodies for Assamese
people and protection of monuments and places of cultural and
historical monuments in Assam.
|
| March 14 |
An encounter between SFs and militants
belonging to KPLT took place at Moujadar basti area under Borpathar
Police Station in Karbi Anglong District. SFs recovered an AK-47
rifle, one SLR, some incriminating documents and a motorcycle
from the spot. However, no one was killed or arrested during the
encounter.
The manpower shortage in the State
Police has risen sharply in recent years with 7,819 posts lying
vacant in various ranks. In a written reply given during the ongoing
assembly session, State environment and Forest Minister Rockybul
Hussain said against a sanctioned strength of 72,461 posts, Assam
Police has 64,642 personnel at present. Hussain replied on behalf
of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who also holds the Home Portfolio.
According to an official report
on Assam Police's strength as on March 2013 the vacancies among
the top-ranking posts are - one post in the rank of DGP, 10 IGP
posts, four posts in the DIG rank and 196 posts of DSP of unarmed
branch are lying vacant. Besides, several other lower rank posts
in the police force are also vacant. These include 82 posts of
inspector (unarmed branch), 57 posts of Inspector (armed branch),
177 posts of Sub-Inspector (unarmed branch) and 38 posts of Sub-Inspectors
(armed branch).
|
| March 15 |
The Assam Minority Struggle Association
staged a dharna (sit-in protest) in front of the Goalpara (Goalpara
District) Deputy Commissioner's office to protest against the
killings of non-Rabhas in the District. Assam Sankhyalaghu Sangram
Parishad 'president', Naziruddin Ahmed alleged that people from
a particular community attacked two non-Rabha boys who were on
their way to Dhuptola from Moilapathar in broad daylight on March
13. Azibar Ali (15) was killed in the attack and another boy,
Hazer Ali, was seriously injured. "Before this incident, Soman
Ali (18) was killed and his body was recovered from Maladhara.
So, one after another incident is taking place and the government
is doing absolutely nothing to control the situation," Ahmed claimed.
Also, the Parishad warned the State Government of strong consequences
if the culprits aren't brought to book in the next 48 hours.
A Police source in the District
said that three person who were allegedly involved in March13's
incident were arrested from the Uranpara-Rakhasani area of the
District on March 14.
A 36-hour Goalpara bandh
(General strike) beginning from March 19 has been called by the
NRCF in support of their demand to delete the names of non-Rabha
and Garo villages from the draft of villages.
According to the State home department's
records, in the year 2012, SFs recovered about 444 arms, 9,373
rounds of ammunition and 200 explosives from all corners of the
state.
Goalpara District topped the chart
in arms recovery with a total of 123 arm recoveries in 2012. Also,
654 rounds of ammunition, 14 grenades and 36 IEDs were recovered
from the District. SFs said that Goalpara District has seen a
steep increase in the seizure of arms and ammunition as the GNLA
and the ULFA-ATF are highly active along the Assam-Meghalaya border.
"Last year, there were at least
50 arms, 148 rounds of ammunition, six grenades and five IEDs
recovered from Kokrajhar District," added the report. As many
as 36 and 21 arms were recovered from Baksa and Udalguri Districts
of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) respectively last year.
The report cited that the highest number of 42 grenades was recovered
from Baksa District.
While in the Hill Districts, of
Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao, 33 and 31 arms seized respectively
in 2012. SFs seized almost 2,967 rounds of ammunition from these
two Districts alone.
As per the records available,
2,438 rounds of ammunition were recovered from Guwahati city,
which topped the charts in the ammunition seizure category. Further,
22 arms and five explosives were also seized from the city in
2012. Besides, the GRP too seized at least 16 arms and 1,035 rounds
of ammunition during the same period in the State.
The Tinsukia administration has
requested Dispur for 45 motorbikes to reduce response time during
anti-insurgency operations after the latest security review pointed
to a heightened threat perception in the border district. Insurgent
groups like CPI-Maoist, ULFA-ATF and Naga militant outfits are
active in the District that shares a 240kilometre border with
Arunachal Pradesh.
Unidentified militants abducted
three ginger traders from an area near Terang basti under Manja
police station of Karbi Anglong District. According to information
a group of five armed unidentified militants abducted the traders,
Minu Basumatary, Pawgan Singson and Dulal Basumatary. Sources
revealed that a huge sum (around INR 1.8 million) has been demanded
from the relatives of the abducted persons.
13 youths from Charaideo Sub-Division
in Sivasagar District have joined the ULFA-ATF a few days back.
A few of them who signed the release are Pabitra Asom, Papu Asom,
Gonesh Asom, Binod Asom, Jitu Asom, Nomal Asom and Khagen Asom.
The youths, most of them less than 30 years of age, stated in
a press release that they joined the outfit willingly for the
failure of the authorities in solving issues like the granting
of Scheduled Tribe status to the Tai-Ahom community and the Dibang
dam, among others.
|
| March 16 |
SFs stationed at Maibong in Dima
Hasao recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition, official
sources said on March 16. The cache of arms included two .9 mm
pistols with magazine, four 12 bore guns, four Chinese grenade,
two radio sets, two IED and a few detonators which were hidden
in an old water tank. Security sources suspected that the recovered
arms belonged to DNLF.
SFs arrested an ULFA-ATF militant,
identified as Amar Deka alias Abinash Asom (23), from Darrang
District. SFs recovered a Chinese M-46 grenade and some incriminating
documents from his possession.
SFs arrested a NDFB linkman, Sanjeev
Mushahary (28), from an undisclosed location.
State Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi
expressed satisfaction over the dialogue between the Central Government
and ULFA-PTF. Saying that the peace talks with ULFA-PTF was progressing
in the right direction, Gogoi, however, said it would be too early
to comment on possible outcome of dialogue.
|
| March 16 |
SFs arrested a DJNA militant,
Thomas Daulagapu, from upper Mahandijua village under Manja Police
Station in Karbi Anglong District.
In a confessional statement given
to Manja Police, Thomas Daulagapu revealed that around 30 DJNA
cadres were receiving training in NSCN-K camp. The arrested cadre
told Manja police that DJNA was to pay a huge sum to NSCN-K for
"imparting training and arming the group." The arrested cadre
admitted that the newly formed outfit was also active in Karbi
Anglong and Dima Hasao district for collecting fund by "means
of extortion." Thomas said a former DHD cadre Runit Jidung engaged
him to send out extortion notices to various individuals and organizations.
He revealed that Runit was supposed to receive 20% of the total
collection. Thomas also mentioned that the chief aim of DJNA was
to form a separate state (Dimaraji) for the Dimasa community on
the lines of the disbanded DHD.
|
| March 17 |
Pradip Roy, a member of the KLO,
and wanted in Godapani Pathak's murder, was arrested by Bengal
police from Kamakhyaguri in Jalpaiguri District in north Bengal
a few days ago and was handed over to Bongaigaon Police. He is
now being interrogated at Abhayapuri Police Station of the District
since the past couple of days.
|
| March 18 |
The Union Government has given
its nod to start updating of the NRC in seven Districts of Assam
after violence marred the NRC pilot project in Barpeta District
in 2010. The decision was taken after a meeting between the Centre
and the State government held in New Delhi on Monday.
The NRC would not be updated in
Barpeta District this time but it would be updated in non-minority-dominated
Districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat,
Nagaon and Sonitpur, said Shambu Singh, Joint Secretary of Home
Ministry (NE In-Charge).
India asked Bangladesh to work
out an action plan to flush out the remaining militant leaders
of the Northeast region from that country. Central Government's
request was conveyed at the Director General level "Border Coordination
Conference" between BSF and BGB that got under way on March 18.
The meeting will end on March 23.
The Central Government is hoping
the peace talks with ULFA-PTF will attain a new level of credibility
in April with the return of the outfit's general secretary, Golap
Baruah alias Anup Chetia. The key ULFA leader is in "protective
custody" in Rajshahi jail in Bangladesh, pending a decision on
his petition in the Bangladesh Supreme Court. He has sought asylum
in Bangladesh or in a third country. When the court takes up the
case, possibly next month, a decision would be tensely awaited
in both countries. Though Dhaka is likely to turn down the request,
it is hoped that the initiative will come from Chetia himself.
|
| March 19 |
A Policeman was injured when supporters
of the 36-hour Goalpara District bandh (general strike)
clashed with the Police at Pancharatna under Kharmuja Police outpost.
Officer-in charge of Kharmuja Police Outpost, Marmuj Ali, was
injured when nearly 500 strike supporters staging a blockade on
the road allegedly attacked the SFs.
The situation turned violent when
the Police tried to clear the road for vehicles. The supporters
then attacked a Tata Sumo at Pancharatna about 300 metres away
from Naranaryan Setu and set it ablaze. The driver of the car
was also injured in the attack. Protesters also set ablaze a truck
at Kumri area in the District. Police later had to fire blank
shots in the air to disperse the mob. With the arrival of additional
SFs and senior Police officials, a semblance of normalcy returned.
The bandh was called by
non-Rabha and non-tribal organisations under the NRCF to register
its protest against the inclusion of non-Rabha and non-tribal
dominated villages in the RHAC. They demanded the exclusion of
the names of 394 villages dominated by non-Rabha, non-tribal and
Garo population from the draft of villages in the council, the
preparation for which is under way.
Six out of the seven districts,
to be covered in first phase of NRC update, do not have the NRC
of 1951 while the complete electoral rolls of 1966 and 1971 are
available in only two Districts. The first phase of the NRC update
approved by the RGI will take place in seven Districts - Tinsukia,
Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Nagaon and Sonitpur. According
to official records, the districts that are scheduled for the
NRC update in the first phase have no records of the NRC of 1951;
only partial records of the rolls of 1966 and 1971 are available
in Sivasagar District. Among the other first phase Districts,
names of 208 villages are not in the electoral rolls of 1966 in
Tinsukia. In Nagaon, 19 villages are not included in the rolls
of 1971 and names of another 11 villages are not there in rolls
of 1966. The complete electoral rolls up to 1971 are available
in only Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Golaghat and Sonitpur.
The process to update the NRC
in Assam will start in April. This was decided at a meeting between
officials of Union Home Ministry, representative of the Assam
government and the RGI in New Delhi, officials said. "We held
detailed discussions with the officials of the Registrar General
of India to pave way for early initiation," State Home Commissioner,
G.D. Tripathy said.
Three ginger traders, who were
abducted by unidentified militants from Terang village in Karbi
Anglong on March 15, escaped from the hideout of the militants.
A Police personal, Arfan Khan,
was injured during the 36-hour Goalpara District bandh
(General strike). nearly 1,200 rubber trees were felled by suspected
non-Rabhas during the 36-hour Goalpara District bandh (General
strike). The bandh was called by non-Rabha and non-tribal organisations
under the NRCF to oppose the inclusion of non-Rabha and non-tribal
dominated villages in the upcoming RHAC.
A general alert has been sounded
to increase security cover of all the major religious institutions
including temples in the State following apprehension that any
such temple may come under attack from extremists,. Notably, Kamakhya
temple has been on the alert list since 2010 and the threat perception
remains till date.
|
| March 20 |
The Centre acknowledged the fact
that anti-national activities of CPI-Maoist in some Districts
of the north-eastern States are posing a threat to internal security.
In a reply to a question in the
Rajya Sabha, Union MoS for Home Affairs RPN Singh said, "The Assam-Arunachal
border has emerged as another theatre for Maoist activities. The
CPI (Maoist) are trying to establish organizational base in the
Northeast with a view to forge relations with other insurgent
groups to meet its military requirements." According to him, while
Maoist activities have been reported in 2012 in Dhemaji and Tinsukia
Districts of Assam, Maoist influence has been noticed in Dibrugarh,
Sonitpur and Chirang Districts. The movement of the Maoists have
also been reported in Lohit and lower Dibang valley Districts
of Arunachal Pradesh. The Upper Assam Leading Committee (UALC)
of the CPI (Maoist) is operating in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh
and has been involved in incidents of looting of weapons and extortion
from local villagers. The UALC is also engaged in recruitment
and training of cadres of militant outfits in Assam. The foray
of CPI (Maoist) into the sensitive north-eastern States is fraught
with serious strategic implications since it has potential trans-border
possibilities.
MoS for Home affairs RPN Singh
further said that the Centre has alerted the State Governments
concerned in this regard. The Home Ministry is also monitoring
the situation closely and is sending advisories, as and when required,
based on intelligence inputs, the Minister added.
In a reply to a question raised
by AGP Member of Parliament Birendra Prasad Baishya in the Rajya
Sabha (upper house of Parliament), Union Minister of State
for Home Affairs Mullappally Ramachandran said that consensus
on the definition of "Assamese people" and the criteria for reservation
in the Parliament, State Legislature and local bodies could not
be arrived at, and that the proposal had not reached its logical
conclusion. Clause 6 of the 1985-Assam Accord provides constitutional,
legislative and administrative safeguards to the "Assamese people"
the State.
|
| March 21 |
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, when
asked about the rise in CPI-Maoist activities in some upper Assam
Districts in the State, said, that, "Given the rise in Maoist
[CPI-Maoist] activities in upper Assam, we have decided to deploy
more security forces". On the issue of NRC update in Assam, Gogoi
said, "Due to lots of problems with regard to NRC update in lower
Assam, we have started the NRC update in upper Assam in the first
phase."
ULFA-PTF 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa
stated India and Bangladesh are trying to find a way to get undivided
ULFA 'general secretary' Anup Chetia alias Golap Baruah
out of the "protective custody" of Bangladesh court so that he
can be extradited to India for participation in the ongoing peace
talks.
State Forest Minister Rockybul
Hussain stated that the present Government in the State created
around 25,000 posts in the State Police Department and around
8,000 posts in the department are lying vacant at present. Between
1,000 and 2,000 of these posts fall vacant annually due to superannuation
of incumbent officers and staff, he said.
He further claimed that the situation
in the BTAD areas is returning to normal and those taking shelter
following the incidents of ethnic clash last year are returning
to their native places. State Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain
further informed the State Assembly that the migrants entering
the State during the 1966-1971 period should register themselves
with the authorities concerned or else they are to be sent to
the detention camps set up for detaining illegal migrants.
|
| March 22 |
KLNLF observed its 19th raising
day at its Diphu designated camp in Karbi Anglong District. In
an open session organized leaders of the outfit under truce reiterated
its demand for a separate statehood for the scheduled tribes inhabiting
in the hills of Assam for lasting peace. KLNLF came over ground
in 2010 declaring truce with the government the outfit also 'decommissioned'
its entire arsenal as a gesture of readiness for peaceful conclusion
of its arms struggle through negotiation.
The Central Government will soon
offer a new rehabilitation package to the ULFA-PTF as the primary
focus of the ongoing peace talks is rehabilitation of its members.
The rehabilitation package will be a "constructive" one that will
help its cadres lead a dignified life.
DG of BGB, Major General Aziz
Ahmed said Dhaka would never allow its soil to be used against
any anti-India activity. BGB DG said that Bangladesh had assured
India it would not harbour any anti-India elements, while interacting
with journalists at the end of five-day long 37th Border Co-ordination
Conference with BSF in New Delhi. The two sides also identified
175 patches along the border for increased patrolling where fencing
was not possible.
Alarmed by reports of fresh illegal
infiltration from Bangladesh triggered by the ongoing turmoil
in the neighbouring country, India has alerted the border guarding
force deployed along the international border. Briefing the media,
DG, BSF, Subhash Joshi and DG of BGB, Major General Aziz Ahmed
said that forces were on alert, denying reports of rise in infiltration
along the highly porous international border. DG BSF Subhash Joshi
said about 27 percent of India's border with Bangladesh could
not be fenced due to riverine terrain and other difficult geographical
features. He said fencing work was sanctioned for 3,436 km of
the 4,096-km border with Bangladesh and 2,525 km had been fenced.
He said work was in progress for fencing on 365 km and the pending
work was expected to be completed in a year or two.
|
| March 23 |
SFs arrested two suspected NDFB
cadres, identified as Mohash Baghoar (20) Sunil Bormohalia (19),
from Rangapara town in Sonitpur District. SFs recovered one country-made
gun along with three rounds of ammunition from the cadre.
|
| March 24 |
SFs arrested two suspected linkmen
of the NDFB-IKS, identified as Jotin Nazari and Putuli Nazari,
near Koliabhomora Bridge in Sonitpur District. SFs recovered a
pistol and five grenades from their possession. The husband-wife
duo was on their way to Biswanath Chariali from Dimapur via Tezpur
on a motorcycle.
The Army has got a ROV to tackle
the IED planted by militants in the State. "Designed by the DRDO,
the ROV was tested in December and inducted in January," an Army
Officer said.
The Central Government has ruled
out general amnesty for the members of NDFB-RD, who have been
charged with involvement in heinous crimes, including the serial
blasts in the state on October 30, 2008. The 2008 serial blasts
claimed 88 lives and left 540 persons injured. The CBI in its
chargesheet had named 18 NDFB cadres, including its founder 'chairman'
Ranjan Daimary, in the October 30 serial blasts. A key Government
representative associated with the peace process said peace talks
and trials in cases of heinous crimes will go hand in hand for
the NDFB-RD.
CM Tarun Gogoi hailed the UC structure
engaged in counter-insurgency operations in the State as one of
the best in the country and commended the role of the Army and
other paramilitary forces in curbing insurgency.CM Gogoi said,
"Assam's unified command structure is one of the best in the country.
The Army has been successful in taking positive initiatives in
the state. We are able to function as a government because of
it (the Army)."
NDFB-IKS banned felling of trees
and other illegal activities inside the reserve forest. NDFB-IKS
has issued leaflets in many areas, especially in the vicinity
of forest areas in Ripu-Chirang Reserve in Kokrajhar and Chirang
Districts. The leaflets were issued by the NDFB-IKS ‘forest minister’
B. Sibigiri, and ‘commanding officer’ of NDFB-IKS’s western command,
M. Biban.
|
| March 25 |
SFs
arrested three UPDS cadres, identified as Sarsing Timung (35),
Lawrence Engleng (32) and Kangbura Ingti (30), from Maisa Killing
located in the valley of Singhason Hill track in Karbi Anglong
District. The cadres were planning to abduct two prominent businessmen
of the locality.
Criminal
cases registered against members of the DHD-N and DHD-J/ BW outfits
for non-heinous crime may be withdrawn by the State Government
as per procedure established by law. Further, criminal cases registered
against members of the two DHD groups for heinous crimes will
be reviewed case by case in consonance with the existing policy
on the subject, and wherever feasible, steps for withdrawal of
such cases will be initiated by the State Government. This was
stated in a written reply by Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain
on behalf of the State Home Minister to a question by Prafulla
Kumar Mahanta in the Assembly.
Six insurgent groups are currently
active in Assam while 12 others in talks with the Central and
State Government, Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Rockybul
Hussain said. Six groups - ULFA-ATF, NDFB-ATF/ NDFB-IKS, KPLT,
KLO, MULTA and HuM-are active in the State; Hussain said replying
to a question in the House.
Hussain said outfits in talks
were NDFB’s Progressive faction, ULFA-PTF, KLNLF, ACMA, BCF, KRA,
UKDA, KLA, HPC-D, APA, AANLA and STF.
The NDFB-RD and the NSLA have
declared unilateral ceasefire, Hussain said while replying on
behalf of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who also holds the Home
Affairs portfolio, said.
Two groups —BTF and ULFBV have
already surrendered. Settlement has been reached by the central
and state governments with the UPDS and the two factions of the
DHD.
“However, details regarding the
progress of talks with various outfits cannot be disclosed now,”
Hussain said. On cases faced by leaders and cadres of outfits
in talks, he said, “We will not lift the cases faced by them.
The cases will be dealt by the courts and judiciary. A monthly
assistance of INR 3,000 is provided to each cadre belonging to
groups engaged in peace talks.
SFs arrested five KLRA cadres
including the ‘chairman’ and ‘general secretary’ from Kolonga
locality under Baithalangso Police Station of Hamren sub-division
of Karbi Anglong District. The arrested cadres were identified
as Tension alias Sanchar as the ‘chairman’ of
KLRA and Robinson Inghi as ‘general secretary’; the other three
arrested has been identified as Ronjit Timung, Sanjib Teron and
Premison Engti.
NESO asked Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh to expedite the ongoing peace process with various rebel
groups in India’s northeastern states. “The Indian government
must demonstrate its sincerity and commitment to all the ongoing
political dialogues with different armed groups operating in the
Northeastern states,” NESO Chairman Samuel B Jyrwa said. “A time-frame
mechanism with a focus for an acceptable, honourable and solution
must be worked out (with the rebels) and there should be no procrastination
towards this the initiative,” Jyrwa said.
On the “unabated influx of illegal
migrants from neighbouring countries” that has brought a serious
demographic change in the North East, NESO urged the prime minister
to extend Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 in the entire
North Eastern states. The student body also asked the Government
to take immediate initiatives to prepare a register of citizens
by updating the National register of citizens, 1951, which is
the official the document on citizenship.
|
| March 26 |
A six–member delegation of the
PJACBM and NDFB–PTF, met the UHM Sushil Kumar Shinde in New Delhi
to discuss the peace talk with the NDFB-PTF in political level
to resolve the problems. The delegation was represented by Jebra
Ram Mushahary, Chief Convener, PJACBM, Chief Advisor Gangadhar
Ramchiary, Maihung Daimary, Member, PJACBM, B Swmkhwr, and ‘General
Secretary’ of the NDFB-PTF M Gerema, ‘Home Secretary’ and B Alongbar,
‘Organizing Secretary’ of the outfit. The UHM assured them to
expedite the peace talks on desired political level to find an
amicable solution to the Bodoland issue.
|
| March 27 |
SFs recovered 556 rounds of ammunition
from a train at Hojai station in Nagaon District. The bullets
recovered were of AK-47 assault rifles, .9 mm pistols and Insas
rifles, Police said.
Suspected Adivasi militants abducted
a businessman son belonging to Chapor town from Choibari tea estate
near the Dhubri- Kokrajhar District border. The victim was identified
as Ranjan Sil (22). There has been no ransom demand so far.
A parliamentary standing committee
on Home Affairs has recommended increased pressure on countries
bordering the Northeastern region during trade discussions to
close down Indian rebel training camps operating on their soil.The
Venkaiah Naidu-led department-related parliamentary standing committee
on Home Affairs stated in its report submitted on March that all
trade discussions with the countries bordering states of the Northeast
should include a clause demanding closure of rebel training camps
being run on their soil.
The committee observed that despite
adoption of various strategies to bring peace to the Northeast,
an environment conducive to investments to ensure accelerated
economic growth was yet to become a reality. “The need of the
hour is to undertake confidence-building measures and employment
generation, besides ensuring security and safety of human beings
and their belongings,” it stated. The committee opined that counter-insurgency
strategies in the Northeast should be multi-pronged and that Union
development ministries along with the State Governments of the
region could play effective roles in countering these insurgent
groups.
|
| March 30 |
With the improvement of relations
between India and Bangladesh, the ties between the border guarding
forces of both the countries have also improved considerably and
coordinated patrolling by the BSF and BGB has started, which is
a major positive in border management. BSF sources elaborated
that the personnel of the BSF and BGB jointly identified the vulnerable
stretches along the Indo-Bangla border based on infiltration,
movement of criminals etc and coordinated patrolling is carried
out in those areas.
|
| March 31 |
SFs, in an encounter, killed a
GNLA militant near the Khashi Ghaghra area under Krishnai Police
Station in Goalpara District. The slain militant was identified
as Khowak Marak. While, another GNLA militant identified as Niksrang
Sangma was injured in the same incident.
SFs recovered an IED, suspected
to be planted by NDFB militants, from a connecting road between
Kanyakuchi and Saljhar Township under Rangjuli Police Station
in the same District.
Members of FTVFA at a press conference
in Guwahati city urged the Government, the judiciary and the public
to stand by the victims of the October 30, 2008 serial blasts
and pleaded that NDFB chief Ranjan Daimary, who masterminded the
serial blasts in the state, is not released on bail. The district
sessions court on March 30 heard the bail plea of the militant
chief and reserved its judgment till April 3. Official sources
said that Daimary is likely to get interim bail to allow him to
participate in the ongoing peace parleys between the Centre, state
and the NDFB.
|
| April 1 |
Two cadres of the NDFB-IKS, identified
as Thaijan (Tamaran) Brahma and Baitu (Kamishar) Brahma, were
arrested from Basbari Market in a joint operation by SFs based
at Panbari in Dhubri District. One US-made automatic pistol, two
magazines, 11 rounds of live ammunition, one hand grenade along
with a fuse, INR 25,000 in cash, two mobile phones, photos and
documents were recovered from them.
Police arrested a man, identified
as Biswanath Chandra Chauhan (35), along with a handmade gun from
his residence at Balagaon under Kokrajhar Police Station in Kokrajhar
District.
Government accorded a special
category status to Maoist-affected Tinsukia District to tackle
Left-wing extremism and militancy. The Government has constituted
a 13-member high-powered committee headed by Power and Industry
Minister Pradyut Bordoloi (MLA from the District) with senior
officers from several departments, including Commissioner (Upper
Assam division) and Deputy Commissioner of Tinsukia District,
to prepare a special all-round developmental plan that will focus
on infrastructure development and avenues of employment generation.
The plan will be named Integrated District Action Plan.
|
| April 1-4 |
SFs arrested two suspected NDFB-IKS
cadres, during operations, in the foothills area of Misamari in
Sonitpur District. The two arrested militants were identified
as Prem Surin (26 yrs) and Kathimal Mushahary (45 yrs). SFs recovered
two country made rifles, one barrel of country made rifle and
one butt of a rifle.
|
| April 2 |
Police managed to rescue Jagdish
Chandra Das, an employee at the State Secretariat, from Orang
more than a month after he was abducted from Guwahati. Das was
abducted on February 26 from Jalukbari area after which he was
taken to Udalguri and then to Orang where he was kept in captivity.
The abductors had demanded INR 10 million from his family. The
arrested persons were identified as Rupsingh Teron, Jagdish Basumatary,
Rongpi Boro, Abani Boro, Indrajeet Boro, Deepak Kumar Boro and
Suren Basumatary. Jagdish Basumatary is a member of Ex-Bodo Liberation
Tigers Welfare Society.
The State Government said that
it will not interfere in judicial matters of cases involving leaders
and cadres of militant groups engaged in peace talks, Minister
for Panchayat and Rural Development Rockybul Hussain informed
the Assembly that while the State Government gave full support
to talks between the Centre and militant groups, it was up to
the judiciary to decide bail pleas and related issues of arrested
militants. On the peace talks between the NDFB-RD and the Centre,
Hussain said that the Central Government’s interlocutor P C Haldar
had held several rounds of talks with Daimary, who is lodged in
Guwahati Central Jail.
Ranjan Sil (22), son of a businessman
of Chapor town in Dhubri District, was released by militants in
Kokrajhar town in Kokrajhar District. Ranjan was abducted by suspected
militants of BCF from Choibari tea garden in Dhubri District on
March 27.
|
| April 3 |
Police arrested seven persons,
including five militants of RNLF [formerly known as Rabha Viper
Army] and two arms dealers of Meghalaya from Rani in Kamrup District
and Byrnihat (Assam-Meghalaya border) respectively. Inspector
General of Police (IGP-Law and Order) LR Bishnoi said, “We have
information that following panchayat elections in Goalpara, the
Rabha National Liberation Force is again trying to gain strength
by purchasing arms and ammunition. The outfit, which is mostly
active in the district, had received a blow when eight of its
cadres were killed in encounters during the past seven-eight months.
Another five cadres had surrendered. Drishti Rajkhowa of Ulfa
had asked a leader of the outfit, Deepak Rabha, to regroup and
promised them support in this regard.”
Golaghat Police apprehended eight
youths from Morongi in the District. They were allegedly on their
way to join ULFA.
Police arrested an ULFA cadre,
identified as Karuna Milli, with Lalit Konwar from Sissimukh-Machkhowa
in Dhemaji District and recovered arms and ammunition from him.
At least seven militant groups
will attend a meeting to be hosted by ULFA-PTF on the threat posed
by illegal migration to State’s ethnic communities at the group’s
designated camp in Kakopathar in Tinsukia District on April 7.
April 7th is ULFA’s raising day. The participants
are leaders of HPC-D of Mizoram, DHD of Dima Hasao, Karbi National
Liberation Army of Karbi Anglong, ANVC of Meghalaya, NDFB-PTF
and KRF.
The court of the District and
sessions judge, Kamrup, asked CBI to file its views on NDFB-RD
chief Ranjan Daimary’s plea for grant of absolute bail and reduction
of the bail amount from the current INR 500,000. The bureau has
been given time till April 10, the next date of hearing of Daimary’s
bail plea, to do so.
The FT of Goalpara (Goalpara District)
has disposed 59 cases in the month of March and has found seven
illegal migrants residing in the State. Disposing the cases, the
FT has declared 46 contesting ‘D’ voters as genuine Indian citizens,
three cases as ex–prate illegal migrants and dismissed one case.
|
| April 4 |
DG of BSF, Subhash Joshi, along
with other senior BSF officers concluded a two–day (April 3-4)
visit of Karimganj and Mizoram border. The purpose of the visit
was to review the security scenario and border management on the
Indo–Bangladesh border in both the sectors. The DG revealed that
90 per cent of fencing was complete and the remaining portion
would also be completed soon.
State Police arrested four persons
from Guwahati city in Kamrup (metro) District and recovered eight
.32 bore pistols from them. According to the Police, the Bihar
residents were carrying the arms to Dimapur in Nagaland. The four
were identified as Nuri Begum, Ayesha Ali Khan, Chandni Begum
and Mohammed Firoze.
The AASU warned AIUDF chief Badaruddin
Ajmal asking to him not to pose fresh hurdles in the proposed
updating of the NRC in the State. The move comes in the wake of
AIUDF asking the State Government to approach the Centre seeking
use of the term "preparation' instead of "update"
in the application form for the NRC and saying that the previous
NRC of 1951 of the state had errors. AIUDF, too, pressed for amendments
in the sub-rules under the Citizenship Amendment Rules, 2009.
Militant outfit KPLT demanded
INR 300,000, as extortion money, from former president of AXX,
Rong Bong Terang,
|
| April 5 |
All Assam Surrendered ULFA Samiti
reiterated its demand that ULFA-ATF 'commander-in-chief' Paresh
Baruah be brought to the talks table to find an amicable solution.
"Paresh Baruah has never opposed talks. The only thing he
wants to discuss is the issue of Assam's sovereignty. But discussing
sovereignty doesn't mean granting it. Moreover, the demand charter
of Rajkhowa faction is very confusing. So, to reach to a concrete
solution, the government must bring Paresh Baruah into the talks,"
said Rajkumar Duwarah, ‘president’ of the association. Duwarah
was a member of ULFA's organizing committee before he surrendered
in 1992.
A new militant formation UPLF
has come into existence on January 4, with an aim to create a
separate Dimasa Karbi-Anchal State comprising the Hill Districts
of Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao. The leaders of the outfit are
R. Dimasa and L. Karbi, in-charge of ‘information and publicity’
of UPLF, S. Karbi ‘chairman’ and J, Dimasa as ‘commander in chief’.
UPLF has warned that those involved in illegal exploitation of
minerals and natural resources within the declared zone of Dimasa
Karbia-anchal would be punished. The outfit also warned dishonest
governmental officials to cease from deceitful activities.
Security Forces recovered a bomb
planted by unidentified militants from Phandi Line Lower Primary
School in Sonitpur District.The school has remained closed since
then, adds the report.
|
| April 6 |
SFs recovered a cache of arms
and ammunition was hidden in the Nutan Basti locality of Dima
Hasao District. The recovered weapons included three country-made
revolvers, 973 rounds of ammunition, 100 gelatine sticks, 40 detonators,
an IED and two grenades.
|
| April 7 |
SFs defused an IED found at Pathsala
in Nalbari District. The device was found on April 6 evening.
SFs arrested two NDFB militants,
identified as Fungkha Narzary (25) and Obi Basumatary, from Rowmary
area in Chirang District. SFs recovered one pistol, seven rounds
of bullet and INR10,400 from them.
The ULFA-ATF, on its 34th raising
day, hoisted its flag at Naharkatia College in Dibrugarh District.
ULFA-ATF ‘chairman’ Abhijit Asom sought support from the people
for its “cause” to free Assam from “colonial forces”. Pro-Talks
faction of ULFA (ULFA-PTF) leader Arabinda Rajkhowa however, asked
all cadres of the militant outfit, along with the people of the
State, not to lose hope in the ongoing peace dialogue with the
Government.
Jiten Dutta, a leader of the ULFA-PTF,
expressed displeasure at being kept in the dark by their leaders
about the content of the ongoing talks with the Central Government.
Dutta said, “The central leadership [of ULFA-PTF] has not made
public what they are discussing with the Centre though they claim
that 80 per cent progress has been achieved in the talks”. He
further warned that if the interests of the indigenous people
of the State were not included in the on-going talks, then second-rung
leaders like him would join hands with other like-minded organisations
of the Northeast and launch a new struggle for the protection
of the indigenous people.
TVF, an umbrella organisation
of victims of militancy in the State, called upon civil society
to socially boycott militants and their families to discourage
upcoming generations from taking up arms.TVF founder and chief
adviser, Dhananjoy Saikia, in a speech, urged society to take
a firm stand against militancy. Saikia further called for social
boycott of all militants including current, former, surrendered
and those who engaged in peace talks.
CPI-Maoists under the banner of
‘Krishak Sramik Mahasamiti’ have become active in
the tea estates of Rupacherra, Sonacherra, Amranagar, Chintibil
and others in South Assam Districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi.
The report identifies a Maoist activist Sridhar as office bearer
of Krishak Sabha of Cachar District for spreading the Maoist ideology.
Further, Shyam Sundar Santhal, Madan Urang, Sarat Kurmi, Naren
Urang and Rajeshwar Urang are actively working in different tea
estates of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi Districts states the
report. The input further adds to say that two cadres, Bikash
Debnath and Swapna Debnath, have been given the responsibility
of South Assam.
|
| April 8 |
Two militants of the ULFA-ATF
were killed in an encounter with SFs at Bordoloni village in
Dibrugarh District. SFs recovered a Germany made Heckler &
Koch (HK) 33 assault rifle, one 9 mm pistol, two grenades, five
magazines and a few Ulfa letterheads from the encounter site.
SFs arrested a militant belonging
to NNC- FGN from Kelelo area in Haflong town of Dima Hasao District.
The militant was identified as sergeant, Songbambe Kuame alias Nimpeu
of Kohima based 3rd Battalion of NNC-FGN. SFs recovered one auto
pistol, one magazine, three live rounds and one mobile hand set
with SIM card from his possession.
|
| April 9 |
The State Government has decided
to learn from Maoist-hit States to tackle the menace making inroads
in Tinsukia District. Deputy commissioner S.S. Meenakshi Sundaram
said that Tinsukia officials would be sent to States like
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha to get first-hand knowledge
of the development plans being implemented in the rural areas
of these states. It was also decided that Chief Minister Tarun
Gogoi would be urged to send Police teams to the Maoist-affected
states for an orientation course on strategies adopted there to
tackle “Left-wing extremism”. The meeting was a preparatory one
before the first sitting of the 13-member high-powered committee
constituted by the State Government recently under the chairmanship
of Bordoloi for Tinsukia after the District was accorded special
category status. The deputy commissioner said the meeting also
decided to get a baseline survey conducted in all the 1,126 villages
of the District with special focus on about 200 villages identified
as CPI-Maoist and ULFA-affected to prepare an integrated district
action plan. Most of the villages of Sadiya subdivision on the
north bank of the Brahmaputra, where Maoists are said to be gaining
a foothold, will be included in the list.
SFs apprehended two surrendered
KLA militants, while they were removing nuts and bolts of the
railway track, from Migrendisa in Dima Hasao District. The duo
was identified as Paojamin and Paominlem.
|
| April 10 |
SFs arrested two ULFA linkmen,
identified as Paniram Gogoi and Haren Gogoi, from Tingkhong 2
No. Dhadumia Gaon under Rajgarh Police Station in Dibrugarh District.
A motorbike, a pistol and two rounds of live ammunition along
with a demand letter were recovered from the house of the duo.
The ULFA-ATF warned singers and
artistes in State against singing Hindi songs during Rongali Bihu
celebrations. Bihu celebrations start on April 13. In an email,
assistant publicity secretary of the group, Arunodoi Asom, appealed
to all organisers and artistes not to perform Hindi songs and
music and instead stage the traditional cultural items. “We will
keep strict watch on the Bihu pandals. ULFA will be forced to
protest in future programmes of those singers, artistes and organisers
disrespecting our appeal and performing items influenced by Indian
culture”.
The CBI opposed any relaxation
in the conditions it had prescribed for releasing NDFB-RD ‘chairman’
Ranjan Daimary on bail. In response to Daimary’s bail application,
the CBI had earlier submitted in the court that interim bail might
be granted to him by imposing 12 conditions in the bail order.
Ranjan Daimary on March 31 prayed to the court for absolute bail
instead of interim bail, reduction of the bail amount from INR
500,000 sought by the CBI and not to bar him from giving any statement
to the media. Ranjan Daimari was chargsheeted by the CBI for his
alleged role in masterminding the October 30, 2008, serial blasts
in the State.
the Supreme Court directed Central
and State Government & the EC to submit written response within
three weeks explaining the reasons for the delay in updating National
Register for Citizens (NRC) since 2009. The Apex Court’s direction
came after the Counsel for the EC clarified that the Electoral
Rolls of 1966 was available. The hearing was in connection with
a Writ Petition (civil) filed by APW, a Non Governmental Organisation,
which sought the Supreme Court’s direction on the guidelines for
updating of NRC.
|
| April 11 |
The Court of Kamrup District and
Sessions Judge granted bail to NDFB-RD ‘chairman’ Ranjan Daimary,
the prime accused, in the October 30, 2008 serial blasts in the
State. “Ranjan Daimary has been granted bail against a bail
bond of Rs 3 lakh [INR 300,000] and two persons standing surety
for him. The court has also laid down some conditions for him
which are – he cannot get involved in any anti–national activity,
he cannot give statements in the public favouring the NDFB (R),
he must be present in the court during all hearings in the case
and in case he cannot be present, he must give prior information
to the court and he cannot leave Assam without the court’s permission,”
said Daimary’s defence counsel Manas Sarania.
|
| April 12 |
ULFA-PTF is optimistic that undivided
ULFA general secretary Anup Chetia, who is currently in a jail
in Bangladesh, will reach the State and join the peace talks by
Assamese New Year in 2014. ULFA-PTF believes that Chetia's inclusion
in the talks will open a window to bring Paresh Baruah to the
dialogue table."At present, Bangladesh is in a politically
volatile situation. After the turmoil is over, the Bangladesh
Supreme Court and New Delhi are likely to decide on Chetia's fate
next month," ULFA-PTF ‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa told the
media.
SFs arrested a KLO militant, Deep
Sarkar, at Bhaibazar under Golokganj Police Station in Dhubri
District.
State EC said that if differences
regarding delimitation of seats for RHAC are resolved amicably
then polls to the council could be conducted by the middle of
May. Speaking to reporters here, State Election Commissioner Biren
Dutta said “Earlier we had announced the RHAC polls for April
30. However, it will be difficult to hold the polls by that time
as some problems remain regarding delimitation of seats remain
to be settled,” he said. Dutta added: “We are hopeful that the
issues would be sorted out through discussions by April 23-24
and then polls could be held by mid-May.”The RHAC areas, covers
parts of Goalpara and Kamrup (Rural) Districts of lower Assam.
The State EC also issued notifications
for the DHAC, which covers the whole of Dima Hasao District. Polling
for the 28 seats in DHAC would be held on May 20 and counting
would be taken up on May 24. The EC has declared all the 200 polling
stations in Dima Hasao as sensitive, while 78 among them have
been categorised as hyper-sensitive.
|
| April 13 |
SFs arrested a GNLA militant,
identified as Olman K. Marak, in Khardang of Goalpara District.
|
| April 14 |
Suspected KPLT militants
shot dead a Sarkari Gaonbura (Government recognized village
headman), Sarat Teron (60), in Teron Gaon village under Deothar
Police Outpost in Bokajan Sub-Division of Karbi Anglong District.
"Son of the village headman is a member of the KLNLF outfit which
is under ceasefire agreement with government and natural rival of
the KPLT, probably the assailants suspected the victims son to be
the mole of the police," said a senior Police Officer. |
| April 15 |
CM Tarun Gogoi speaking at the
'Chief Ministers' conference in New Delhi said that there was
a declining trend in militant violence in the State. CM, Tarun
Gogoi said, "In the past few years, there has been a declining
trend of militant violence and talks are on with several militant
outfits. However, it would be over-optimistic to declare that
the nightmare of militant violence is over ". He said at a regional
level, it was clear that coordinated action was needed in Arunachal
Pradesh, Nagaland and some parts of Meghalaya if training; arms
supply, transit routes and shelters of militants operating in
Assam were to be choked. Tarun Gogoi said that Myanmar remained
a sanctuary for militants and there were efforts to reopen camps
in Bhutan."The crackdown by the present Bangladesh government
was a major factor in eroding the striking power of outfits like
ULFA [United Liberation Front of Asom] and NDFB [National Democratic
Front of Bodoland], and we will remain forever grateful (to Bangladesh),"
he added.
Tarun Gogoi further said, "We
have asked the government to increase the number of foreigners'
tribunals, initiating steps to update the National Register of
Citizens, strengthening of the border protection measures and
completion of border fencing".
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi pointed
to growing activities of the CPI-Maoist in the State and citing
tough terrain asked the Centre to explore the feasibility of deploying
UAV in the State. CM Tarun Gogoi further pleaded that the Integrated
Action Plan (IAP) that forms a plank of the Centre's strategy
against the CPI-Maoist, should cover Dhemaji, Tinsukia and Dibrugarh
and Golaghat Districts initially. The IAP should be implemented
without delay, he statetd.
|
|
April 16
|
SFs arrested a person, who was
travelling from Tuensang to Dimapur in a Nagaland State Transport
bus, along with arms in Karbi Anglong District. SFs recovered
five .22 calibre Chinese-made pistols from him.
NDFB-RD 'chairman' Ranjan Daimary
has claimed that the CBI's allegation of his involvement in the
October 30, 2008, serial blasts in the State was based on "supposition
and probabilities" and not on facts. According to Daimary, who
was granted bail in the serial blasts case on April 11, the CBI
has not been able to establish any prima facie case against him
and the allegations in the chargesheet were "false, concocted
and fabricated".
However, according to the CBI
chargesheet Ranjan Daimary had sent NDFB militant Nilim Daimary
to Assam with instructions to procure explosives with the help
of G. Songswar, an NDFB militant from Udalguri District. Nilim
came to Assam in July 2008 and conveyed Daimary's message to Songswar
and R. Guthal. He also contacted George alias B. Jwangkhang,
Rahul Brahma alias Kharmswar and Rifikhang in Guwahati. The CBI
claimed to have found involvement of the trio in the serial blasts.
Despite the crackdown by the Government
of Bangladesh, a majority of the active militant groups of the
North East are still maintaining bases in the neighbouring country
and in fact, a few of the ultra groups are even giving training
to the new recruits in the bases in that country. Highly placed
sources in the MHA told the newspaper that the matter has already
been conveyed to Bangladesh so that action can be taken against
the militants using the territory of the neighbouring country
as safe sanctuary.
Sources revealed that the NDFB-IKS
has a strong presence in Bangladesh, particularly in the Khagrachari
area and according to information available with the security
agencies at least 30 to 40 members of the outfit are staying in
the area. Sources said that the camp is headed by hardcore militant
Thulunga, who was named in the chargesheet of the serial blasts
of October 2008. A few fresh recruits of the militant outfit are
being trained up in the bases, the sources added.
|
| April 17 |
Central Agencies are closely monitoring
the movements of ULFA-ATF leader Paresh Baruah and analyzing his
statements in the media to pick up hints the elusive militant
leader may have dropped, expressing his interest to join the peace
process.
The Centre believes that Baruah
would join the peace process sooner or later. Central agencies
are now not only taking keen interest in Baruah's statements in
the media, but are also analyzing comments made by known ULFA
sympathizers. "There are no feelers from Baruah as of now, but
if he decides to come for talks, we believe that the first signs
in the present situation would be through the voices of a few
people, who are vocal in their support towards Baruah," the source
added. "His every movement is closely watched and followed. If
he joins the peace process, it is the ideal situation for all.
We do not want to stamp a peace deal with one faction of an outfit
and keep the other faction out in the open. This does not serve
the purpose of the peace process," a source said.
A letter sent to 13 States, by
the MHA on CPI-Maoist efforts to expand to new areas primarily
northeast. The letter states that CPI-Maoist had around one hundred
cadres, including 25 to 30 armed, in Assam and with Mahesh, a
Central Committee member from the Rabha community appearing to
be in charge. Quoting the Assam Police, the letter said 23 of
the 79 Police Stations in Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sibsagar, Dhemaji
and Lakhmipur Districts in Assam were affected by Left-wing extremism
with cadres extorting small tea gardens, cattle-rearing farms
and individuals to sustain itself."… the Maoists have done some
ground-work in the tea garden areas where a local Maoist leader,
Aditya Borah, is at the forefront of efforts to recruit Adivasis
in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts," the letter said. Some recently
arrested ATF militants revealed that they had close links with
Borah and that Maoists from West Bengal were providing ideological
training to Adivasi youth, the letter said.
|
| April 19 |
An Inspector of a commando unit
of Assam Police, identified as Lohit Sonowal, two hardcore militants
of the ULFA-ATF and a civilian were killed in an encounter at
Kordoiguri village in Tinsukia District. The militants killed
in the encounter were identified as Raktajeet Hazarika and Ananta
Moran. An official said residents of village, where the incident
took place, identified the civilian as Pona Moran, who reportedly
died in the crossfire. District SP, P.P. Singh said Hazarika was
responsible for criminal activities in the Upper Assam Districts
for the past few years. "He was also involved in the killing of
surrendered ULFA (SULFA) militant, Tileswar Lahon, at Moran in
Dibrugarh District in 2011," Singh said.
UKDA observed its 4th raising
day at Immanuel Peace camp located in Saigang village in Karbi
Anglong District. In his speech, UKDA 'general secretary', Alex
Kuki said that, KAAC never bothered to undertake any developmental
works in the Kuki dominated Singhason hills in the last 65 years.
He further threatened that the UKDA will not hesitate to undertake
another armed resistance if the attitude of the Government towards
Kuki people of Karbi Anglong does not change. Leaders from other
Kuki militant organization, KRA and representatives of Kuki National
Assembly, Kuki Students Organization, and Kuki Women's Association
also attended the function.
|
| April 21 |
SFs arrested a SULFA militant,
Bipul Chandra Roy, at Daobhangi in Dhubri District. Roy had come
to collect extortion money from a person named Abdul Samad Molla
of Silaipar in the District.
|
| April 21 |
SFs, in an operation, arrested
a militant belonging to NSCN-K, Haihingbe Jeme, from Boro Haflong
locality in Dima Hasao District. Ammunition and explosive material
were also seized from him. SFs recovered one hand grenade, two
live rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and 10 detonators from the militant.
The militant groups, NDFB and
KLO are calling business persons and demanding money from them
in Dhubri District since last week. The KLO has been demanding
huge amounts of money from businessmen in Chagolia and Golokganj
areas of the District. A senior police officer of Dhubri district,
while admitting about the calls from KLO to businessmen, leaders
and contractors in Chagolia, expressed doubt over the calls from
supposed NDFB cadres. "As we know there is no presence of NDFB
in Dhubri district. Groups involved in this extortion network
are intimidating and threatening businessmen to cough up money.
We are keeping a close watch on this," a source said. Hagrama
Mohilary, chairman of BTC, on April 21 said that is hopeful of
the reunion of the two factions of the NDFB and a positive outcome
of the peace talks.
|
| April 22 |
Thousands of people belonging
to several non-Mising organisations took out a rally in Sivasagar
District protesting the inclusion of non-Mising-dominated villages
in the MAC. The District administration on April 5 proposed the
names of 38 villages in two development blocks of the district
in the draft notification for organisation of the Dehing-Desang
constituency of the MAC. ATASU 'adviser', Aswini Chetia claimed
that most of the villages included in the MAC were dominated by
non-Misings.
Incidents of protests against
the earlier reported death of Puna Moran, a civilian killed in
an encounter between SFs and ULFA-ATF militants on April 19, were
reported from Dibrugarh and Tinsukia District. The protesters
mainly led by various students' unions demanded INR 2 million
as compensation to the family of Puna Moran, employment to his
widow, education and other expenses for his two children. They
also demanded a high level enquiry into the incident.
State Governor J. B. Patnaik asked
State Government officials to take urgent steps for speedy development
in Sadiya sub-division of Tinsukia District in order to fight
Naxalism [Left Wing Extremism]. Patnaik said Sadiya was the most
deprived and underdeveloped sub-division of the State.
According to DTO sources, the
District transport officer of Sonitpur, Joshu Kumar Doley, received
an extortion letter from ULFA-ATF militants. The letter, demanding
INR 1 million, was sent from Tinsukia and signed by one Rupankar
Gohain alias Rupankar Asom. Doley has informed the Sonitpur Deputy
Commissioner about the letter.
|
| April 23 |
A 36-hour bandh (total
shutdown) called by the All Assam Moran Students' Union paralyzed
lives in upper Assam Districts. In Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Sivasagar
Districts, educational institutions, banks and business establishments
remained closed while vehicles remained off the road. The bandh
was called in protest against the death of Puna Moran, a civilian
who was killed during an encounter between police and ULFA militants
at Kordoiguri village in Tinsukia District on April 19.
Tripartite talks will be held
in Dispur on April 24 between representatives of RHJMC, non-Rabha
groups and the State Government regarding the RHAC election.
S-CHTF in a memorandum submitted
to the Minister of Welfare of Plains Tribe and Backward Community
Department, Government of Assam, through the Sub-Divisional Officer
(Civil), Lakhipur Sub-Division, Cachar, demanded immediate implementation
of the rehabilitation package for the surrendered militants of
the outfit and reconstitution of the Barak Valley Hill Tribes'
Development Council. The reconstitution is to be done with members
selected by the CHTF.
The BVHTDC was formed by the State
Government after 417 militants of the CHTF surrendered on March
18, 1996.
|
| April 24 |
The election to the RHAC which
was scheduled to be held on April 30, is likely to be delayed.
A meeting of the cabinet sub-committee on RHAC election was held
in Guwahati. The meeting, in which representatives of Rabha and
non-Rabha organizations had taken part, was presided over by State
Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Prithvi Majhi. After
the meeting, Majhi said, "There are some problems due to which
the RHAC polls cannot be conducted soon. More discussions are
needed with Rabha and non-Rabha organizations. Hence the polls
will be delayed."
|
| April 25 |
KLNLF 'publicity -in-charge' Rajak
Dera alleged that on April 22 KPLT militants attacked the house
of KLNLF 'sergeant major' Mukesh Rongphar. Rajak Dera said that
no one was injured during the attack. Rajak Dera further urged
KPLT to stop engaging in factional fights and come to the negotiating
table.
SFs arrested a militant belonging
to NDFB-IKS, from Balapara in Chirang District.
The BSF troopers have caught 243
Bangladeshis between 2008 and 2011 along the border of Cachar
and Karimganj Districts in the State.
A senior Police official said
that the involvement of militants in rhino poaching had been confirmed
with the interception of messages between the KPLT militants and
poachers. "KPLT militants have been supplying arms to the poachers,"
the official said in the meeting of top officials from Golaghat,
Nagaon, Karbi Anglong and Sonitpur Districts in Kaziranga. The
civil administration and the home and forest departments have
decided to join hands to strike hard at rhino poachers who have
been on the rampage in the wilds of Assam.
A report submitted by the parliamentary
standing committee on Home Affairs in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House)
states that Northeastern region witnessed an overall increase
in violence with Assam and Manipur accounted for the bulk of incidents.
The report also finds the level of violence in Meghalaya and Nagaland
higher than the previous year while Tripura, Mizoram and Sikkim
remained large peaceful. The report shows that the incidence of
violence has risen from 627 in 2011 to 1,025 in 2012 which was
773 in 2010 and 1,297 incidents in 2009.The report further states
that 3,562 militants were either arrested or killed or surrendered
in the region.
The parliamentary panel has contended
that socio-economic development may be the key solution to the
ills of the region.
|
| April 26 |
Police arrested a CPI-Maoist 'central
committee member' Aklanta Rabha (41) alias Maheshji and
Siraj Rabha (35) alias Bijoy Rabha, a Jharkhand-based central
training instructor from Jorabat area in Kamrup District. IGP-CWR,
LR Bishnoi said that according to a recent State Police task force
report, the strength of the CPI-Maoists in the State was 181 including
23 woman cadres but "that is likely to have increased now." LR
Bishnoi further said that Aklanta and Siraj were on their way
to Meghalaya for mobilising support in Khasi villages.
The Police later arrested Aklanta's
wife, Rekha Rani, from Goalpara District for allegedly helping
her husband to procure mobile phone SIM cards under fictitious
names. A .22 pistol, six rounds of ammunition and seven mobile
phone SIM cards were recovered from Aklanta, while 240 rounds
of ammunition were found on Siraj. According to the Police the
Maoist duo was trying to establish a Maoist sanctuary in the region
to help senior rebel leaders hide when security forces turned
up the heat against them in the rest of the country.
SFs recovered a .303 rifle along
with a silencer from a poacher, Borsing Tisso, in Ketoterang village
in Karbi Anglong District. The poacher has further confessed that
the rifle and the silencer were given to him by the militant group
KPLT, he has not yet revealed when and who gave him the weapon.
|
| April 27 |
SFs arrested three women from
the Bhalukdubi area of Goalpara District for helping the CPI-Maoist
duo of Aklanta Rabha and Siraj Rabha. The CPI-Maoist duo was,
earlier, arrested on April 26.
IGP-CWR said CPI (Maoist) leaders
are now propagating their ideology in the rural areas along the
Assam-Meghalaya border. "Both the leaders have confessed that
they were heading to Khasi Hills in Meghalaya to organize underground
meetings with local communities there. Already, five to six such
meetings have been conducted between the Khasis and Maoist leaders,"
said L R Bishnoi, IGP-CWR.
CM Tarun Gogoi said the presence
of CPI-Maoist in the State is growing."It is a fact that Maoists
activities are growing in the state and we have been updating
the Centre on this. Here, there is a very thin line between Maoists
and other militant outfits. Almost all of them seem to be working
in cooperation," said, CM Gogoi.
The State Human Rights Commission
has issued notice to the Police on the April 19 shootout between
ULFA-ATF cadres and SFs in which four people were killed in Tinsukia
District, an official said. The commission has sought a report
within 45 days of an incident, in which two ULFA-ATF militants,
one civilian and a Policeman were killed.
The CPI-Maoist is eyeing aggrieved
Khasi people from grossly underdeveloped Assam-Meghalaya inter-state
boundary areas to facilitate outfits entry into Meghalaya. Earlier,
two senior Maoist leaders, Aklanta Rabha alias Maheshji
and Siraj Rabha were arrested by SFs on April 26 near Assam-Meghalaya
border.
The DC of Kokrajhar clamped prohibitory
orders under section 144 CrPC in the Duramari area of Kokrajhar
District following tension between Muslims and Bodos over a plot
of Government land. DC, Jayant Narlikar said that there was a
dispute between Muslims and Bodos over occupying a plot of land
at Thalitbari village in the Duramari area. He added that some
people from the minority community have been trying to construct
temporary sheds on the disputed land while the Bodos of nearby
areas opposed the move. He added the situation is tense and there
is every possibility of breach of a communal clash between the
two communities over the disputed land. The District administration
also sent security personnel to thwart any violence.
|
| April 28 |
The MHA has set a 2014 deadline
to complete fencing along the India-Bangladesh border. This was
revealed in a report tabled by a parliamentary panel attached
to MHA during the current session of Parliament. The report said
Union home secretary R.K. Singh had given the panel an assurance
in this regard in the last week of March 2013. The report said
the home secretary had admitted that illegal influx, trans-border
smuggling and movement of insurgents were major security threats
to the country that needed to be curbed by plugging gaps in the
border fence. He said these gaps had been classified and those
that could be fenced but did not have Government sanction were
being put up for sanction, adding that the Bangladesh Government's
permission would have to be taken for fencing gaps less 150 yards
from the Zero Line. The Union Home Secretary said there were,
however, places where fencing was not feasible. He said intruder
detection technology would have to be used in these places to
plug gaps and curb infiltration. He said though floodlights were
in place; availability of power was an issue. "We have requested
the ministry of power to give us direct allocation from the central
pool, "said Singh.
One civilian was killed while
another sustained bullet injuries when unidentified armed assailants
opened fire at them at Banderchara under Salakati outpost in Kokrajhar
District. The deceased was identified as Chatan Debnath (16).
Following the incident, the Bodoland Territorial Council Bengali
Youth Students' Federation (BYSF) threatened an indefinite BTC bandh (shut
down) if the culprits are not arrested by April 30 (today). The
union also demanded INR 1 million for the deceased's family.
|
| April 29 |
Two persons were killed and 10
others injured in the Moilapathar area near Raikhashini Pahar
under Goalpara Police Station in Goalpara District when Police
allegedly fired on a frenzied mob that went out of control following
recovery of a body in the early hours. Those killed in police
firing were identified as Gulzar Hussein (55) of Mariam Nagar
and Shahidul Islam (25) of Baladmari Char area No. 2. One charred
body, yet to be identified, was also recovered from the incident
site. The violence started after the recovery of the body of Taher
Ali (52), a cowherd who went missing since April 28.
An ULFA-ATF militant, Jagat Bhuyan alias Madan,
surrendered along with arms and ammunition in Jorhat District.
The Myanmar-trained militant deposited an M-20 rifle, seven rounds
of ammunition and two Chinese-bottle grenades.
Altogether 28 organisations warned
the State Government of a serious consequence if the non-Mising
villages and people are made to live under the MAC.
Several second rung leaders of
the KPLT escaped unhurt after a long gun-battle with a SFs in
Tikoklangso village in Karbi Anglong. According to Police, based
on a tipoff, a counter insurgency force of army and Police entered
the village where a group of about six KPLT armed cadres with
sophisticated weapons were camping for extorting money from the
area.
|
| April 30 |
One more dead body was recovered
from near the jungle of Moilaputa in Goalpara District, taking
the death toll to five. The body was identified as that of one
Jayanta Rabha of Dohikata under the Matia revenue circle in Goalpara.
However, the charred body recovered on April 29 could not be identified.
An indefinite BTAD bandh (shut
down strike) called by the BTC Bengali Youth Students Federation,
which began at 6 am on April 30 in protest against the firing
at Bandanchara in Kokrajhar District on April 28 paralysed life
in the region. Mritunjay Debnath, who was injured in the firing,
died of his injuries in a private nursing home in Bongaigaon on
April 30. Mritunjay and Satan Debnath were injured when unidentified
gunmen fired at them.
The CPI-Maoist in Assam received
training in handling of weapons in Jharkhand and jungles of Arunachal
Pradesh and efforts are on by the rebels to spread their bases
to other parts of the North East region. Highly placed sources
in the MHA told that though the threat to the security of
the North East region by the Maoist rebels cannot be considered
very serious, the threat should not be overlooked as setting up
of armed wing proved that the Maoists have reasonably strong bases
in the State.
Sources revealed that according
to information available with the security agencies, the total
number of armed cadres of the Maoists in Assam should be around
40. Sources said that the total number of overground activists
of the Maoists in Assam is estimated to be around 150 and they
work in different capacities to earn their livelihood and work
for the Maoists. They have been given the responsibility of working
among the people to address issues like anti mega dam movement,
problems of the ethnic groups and tea tribes, problems of the
people displaced by floods and erosion etc, to strengthen their
base among the people. The efforts of the Maoists to increase
bases in the North East region is now looked after by Prashant
Bose, who is the second in command of the Maoist rebels and in
charge of the Eastern region.
Sources further said that there
is every possibility of declaration of two Districts of Assam
as LWE Affected Districts so that the Districts are eligible to
receive special development funds from the Government of India.
A NEFR employee, Biswajit Debnath
(32), was abducted, on duty, by unidentified armed persons from
Cachar District. The abductors later demanded a ransom of INR
10 million.
ULFA-ATF led by Paresh Baruah
has changed its name and now the outfit will be known as the ULFA-Independent
(ULFA-I). In a release e-mailed to the media, the ‘chairman’ Abhijit
Asom said that the central executive committee meeting of the
organization was held from April 2 to 5 and the decision to rename
the organization as ULFA-I was taken in the meeting to maintain
the distinct identity of the organization. The release said that
the ULFA-I would remain a revolutionary organization fighting
for the Independence of Assam. On the issue of talks with the
Government for political solution of the issues, the ULFA-I chairman
said that talks on the issue of sovereignty of Assam can be held
in a “third country” in presence of representatives of the United
Nations.
The group also announced that
its “military chief” Paresh Barua would now also be the organisation’s
vice-president. Barua was earlier appointed acting vice-president
of the group, apart from being head of its armed wing. Jibon Asom,
who was the acting finance secretary of the group, has been given
charge permanently while Montu Asom has been newly appointed as
assistant secretary. Montu had earlier acted as assistant organising
secretary of the group.
|
| May 1 |
Unidentified assailant killed
a man, Rabiram Rabha, & injured his wife at Dariduri Tilapara
area under Baguan Police Station in Goalpara District, taking
the toll in the trouble-torn District to six.
ULFA-ATF also known as (ULFA-Independent)
blamed State Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for inviting dubious chit
fund companies who duped investors and demanded that he ensures
that they are paid back their dues. "The chief minister himself
has claimed that a chit fund company had donated Rs 20 lakh to
his relief fund," ULFA-I's ‘assistant information and publicity
secretary’ Arunodoy Asom said in a statement e-mailed to PTI.
|
| May 2 |
A division bench of the AHRC issued
a notice to State Chief Secretary N.K. Das, seeking a probe into
the violence at Goalpara and submit a report in 45 days.
|
| May 3 |
SFs arrested fifteen cadres belonging
to NDFB-IKS from Namtola, on the Assam-Nagaland border in Sivasagar
District. The arrested militants were identified as Robin Narzary
(20), Subhash Basumatary (23), Chandan Narzary (23), Swmgwm Narzary
(20), Ronjoy Basumatary (18), Khagen Basumatary (24), Subung Ser
Brahma (20), Ankang Brahma (20), Arjun Narzary (20), Basiram Bodo,
(19), Sanjay Hazary (18), Sankar Brahma (32), Samjit Basumatary
(19), Eyo Musahari (18), and Prahlad Narzary (19). A senior police
official said the Songbijit faction has been sending recruits
to Myanmar for training. “They use the route from Kohima to Mon
town via Sivasagar district. The cadres are kept in Kohima before
being sent to Myanmar. They are first taken to Chenmyo camp of
the NSCN-K [Khaplang faction of Nationalist Socialist Council
of Nagaland] on the Nagaland-Myanmar border and then sent to the
NDFB (Songbijit) camp at Taka in Myanmar,” he added.
SFs arrested three suspected GNLA
militants and recovered a 7.6 pistol with two live cartridges
under Dudhnoi Police Station in Goalpara District. The apprehended
GNLA cadres are Krispal Sangma, Bitram G Marak and Dharkham Marak.
The cadres were arrested when they came to collect the extortion
money from a businessman of Daranggiri area.
Residents of Margherita town in
Tinsukia District nabbed a suspected NSCN-IM militant, Sumit Mech,
with an AK-47 rifle and a foreign-made semi- automatic rifle and
handed him over to Police.
|
| May 4 |
Eight organisations have called
a 12-hour Goalpara District bandh (strike) to
protest against the killing of two persons at Moilaputa near Goalpara
town on April 29 and the subsequent police inaction. The bandh
has been jointly called by the Goalpara District Students’ Union,
Hajong Students’ Union, Sutradhar Students’ Union, Bodo Students’
Union, Bengali Youth Students’ Federation, Koch Rajbongshi Sudents’
Union, Nath Jogi Yuva Sanmiloni and the Goalpara Rabha Students’
Union to demand immediate arrest of the culprits.
SFs recovered two powerful IEDs
from an abandoned house at Bhetagaon village in Chirang District.
The arrest of 15 new male recruits
of the NDFB-IKS in Sivasagar District, on May 3, while they were
on their way to Myanmar for training has taken intelligence agencies
by surprise, for the outfit's Myanmar-based leadership had asked
for only female recruits. "There are intercepts about
the group's top leader issuing instructions to its point man,
Udla, who is currently located in Kohima, to send in female recruits
as the number of male recruits undergoing training in Myanmar
is disproportionately higher. Probably, these 15 boys were the
last batch of males being sent to the neighbouring country before
the female recruits are sent," a source associated with counter-insurgency
operations said.
|
| May 5 |
SFs arrested a NDFB linkman, Dibakar
Deka, from NH 31 under Rangiya Police Station in Kamrup (rural)
District. SFs recovered a 7.62 revolver, four rounds of live cartridges,
a mobile set and some SIM cards from his possession.
The ABBYSF met State Home Secretary,
Gyanandra Tripathi and submitted a memorandum, describing him
of the problems faced by Hindu Bengalis living in the BTAD. In
the memorandum, ABBYSF expressed concern over rise in extortion,
abduction and killing of Hindu Bengalis in the BTAD by militant
groups, including KLO, an Adivasi militant outfit. Each and every
Hindu Bengali in the Bodo belt is compelled to pay around seven
militant groups, failing which they are threatened with dire consequences,
the memorandum says. “The memorandum says the militant groups
carry arms in broad daylight under the very nose of police. There
are also allegations that a percentage of extortion amount goes
to the police,” federation president Mantu Dey said.
|
| May 6 |
Interrogation of arrested CPI-Maoist
militant, Aklanta Rabha alias Maheshji, has revealed that Maoist
have succeeded in making inroads into Barak valley in Assam. CPI-Maoist
'central committee member', Maheshji, along with a central training
instructor in Jharkhand, Siraj Rabha, was arrested by Police recently
in Kamrup District. Barak Valley, comprising the three districts
of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi, shares inter-state borders
with Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram and an international
border with Bangladesh.
"Maheshji has revealed the names
of at least five persons who joined the group four to five years
ago and are currently working at the village level in Barak Valley
to strengthen their base. For the first time, we have got information
about how Maoists are making inroads in the region," an official
told the newspaper on May 6. The strategic location of the Districts,
according to the officer, has come as an advantage for the Maoists.
One of the five names Maheshji revealed is that of Shalik Singkhai
alias Romeo, a youth of the Khamti community from Lohit
District of Arunachal Pradesh, who was working to strengthen the
Maoist base in Cachar District before his arrest recently. "Romeo
was among the first to have started working at the grassroots
among the tea community in Barak Valley but he could not continue
because of language problems. "We cannot disclose the other four
names in the interest of the investigation. The four were working
under Maheshji and also visited West Bengal and lower Assam districts,"
the officer said.
The revelation assumes significance
after the task force constituted by the State government in 2012
could not find "significant evidence" of Maoist presence in the
area. "The task force report only talked about possible Maoists
activities in Barak Valley but Maheshji's interrogation revealed
they had made inroads about five years ago and are working systematically
to spread their network," the officer said.
The plan of CPI-Maoist to form
a women's group in Assam has been hit after Police succeeded to
arrest top CPI-Maoist leader Aklanta Rabha's wife Rekha Rani Raha
alias Sonpahi in Goalpara on April 27. "Rekha revealed
that she was acting as an overground member of CPI (Maoist). She
had formed an organization called Nari Mukti Sangha to fight against
social discrepancy towards backward classes and was propagating
the Maoist ideology among women in particular. She confessed that
she had managed to recruit at least seven to eight women Maoist
cadres in Goalpara and Kamrup districts," said a Policeman. Aklanta
Rabha was arrested on April 26 in the State.
The newly elected president of
Ex United Peoples Democratic Society, Kangjang Terang, on May
6 volunteered his service to mediate between the KPLT and MHA
if needed. He has appealed to the KPLT to come over ground and
negotiate their grievances.
|
| May 7 |
SFs in an encounter killed a militant,
Tenkhenlo Rengma (27), belonging to the NRHPF, formed in 2012,
at Kaham Rengso hill under Chowkihola Police Station in Karbi
Anglong District. The SFs recovered one .9mm pistol, one AK-47
rifle, two hand grenades and huge cache of assorted ammunition
besides 112 rounds of 303 bolt action rifle, 61 rounds of self
loading rifle, 59 rounds of AK-56 rifle and 14 rounds of .9mm
weapon and a solar operated set for charging communication devices
from the camp. SFs raided the camp initially thought that the
cadres belonged to KPLT. The NRHPF seeks a regional council for
the Rengma tribes living in eastern Bokajan subdivision of the
District. The outfit's identity was established from some documents
found in the camp.
NBSS blocked NH-52 in Sonitpur
District for three hours, demanding exclusion of 19 villages dominated
by non-Bodos from Udalguri District in the BTAD. The Samiti said
the 19 villages fall under Borcholla Assembly constituency of
Sonitpur District and were included in the BTAD. NBSS, 'president',
Gulam Mustafa Ahmed said people were not safe in the BTAD area
of Udalguri. He further alleged that there was a plan to include
several villages from Pachnoi in Sonitpur District to Jonai in
Dhemaji District in the proposed Bodoland, which would do considerable
harm to the non-Bodo people.
Two Guwahati based TV channels,
NE TV and News Time Assam, identified Mukul Hazarika, an Assamese
physician based in London, as Abhijeet Asom, the 'chairman ' of
the ULFA-ATF/ULFA-Independent. ADGP-SB Khagen Sarma said, "It's
known to us that Hazarika was in close contact with ULFA hardliners
for a long time. But it's difficult to say that whether he is
Abhijit Asom."
|
| May 8 |
State Police claimed to have picked
up veteran 'central committee' member of CPI-Maoist Anukul Chandra
Naskar alias Pareshda (65) from Cachar District. He had
joined the organisation in 1967 and became a member of its central
committee in 1985. He was made a Politburo member in 2004. He
looked after the outfit's eastern wing, comprising West Bengal,
Assam, Jharkhand, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. The development
comes close on the heels of the arrest of CPI (Maoist) 'central
committee' member Aklanta Rabha and another Maoist leader Siraj
Rabha alias Dipesh on April 26
The SC directed the Centre to
finalize the modalities for updating the NRC in the state by July
16. The RGI recently gave its nod to update the document in seven
Districts, but no schedule has been announced yet. While hearing
a writ petition filed by an NGO, APW, Justices Ranjan Gogoi and
HL Gokhale also directed the Central Government to submit the
modalities along with forms before the court on July 16. The court
said that it will monitor the whole process.
The Central Government told the
SC that it had decided to fix January 1, 1966, as the cut-off
date for inclusion of citizens' names in the NRC to prevent illegal
migrants from staying on in Assam.
Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi requested
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to help expedite the NRC update
process to fulfil the consensus arrived at in the May 2005 tripartite
meeting involving the AASU.
The NESO met Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh and pressed for updating the NRC across the state in a single
phase instead of three phases as proposed by the government..
|
| May 9 |
Police arrested six extortionists
including a ULFA-PTF member Manoj Rajbongshi alias Anupam, for
demanding money from a Government official in Guwahati in Kamrup
(metro). He joined the ULFA-PTF a few years ago and masterminded
the extortion racket, said city SSP A P Tiwari. The other five
members have been identified as Bhaskar Singha of Noonmati sector
one, Sanjib Das of Sonapur in Nalbari district, Sunil Das of Sualkuchi,
Krishna Barman of Banekuchi in Nalbari District and Hemen Deka
of Noonmati area were known as bad elements.
DGP, JN Choudhury observed that
maintaining law and order in the state should be a national issue
as any disturbance in the State affects communication to the entire
North East region. He further said that with the implementation
of the Look East policy of the Government of India, the importance
of Assam would increase further. Centre should provide help to
the Government of Assam to increase the number of police stations,
Choudhury added. The DGP revealed that at present, the strength
of the Police in Assam is much less than what is required and
the State has 330 police stations to cover 80,000 square kilometre
area, while, ideally there should be one police station to cover
an area of 150 to 200 square kilometre and one in 100 square kilometre
in the sixth schedule areas. This will increase the presence of
civil police on the ground and it will be of great help in dealing
with problems like ethnic tensions, he said.
Suspected KLO militants fired
at adjoining labour camps in Assam -West Bengal border Districts
of Dhubri-Cooch Behar injuring two labourers . Later, one of the
labourers, Monowar Hussain (22), succumbed to his injuries on
May 10 the other one identified as Dadhimohan Roy is undergoing
treatment in Dhubri.
Police sources and eyewitnesses
said four militants, armed with sophisticated weapons, came on
two motorbikes without number plates around 8.30pm and opened
fire on a labour camp at Bouserkuti under Golokganj police station
in Dhubri District of Assam and then on a camp at Mansai in Cooch
Behar District of West Bengal. The labourers were hired by Guwahati-based
construction, Hi-Tech Company, to construct a bridge over the
Raidak River, which flows along the inter-state border.
An intelligence source said the
KLO had demanded a huge amount of money from Hi-Tech but the company
reportedly did not cough it up, leading to the attack.
The house of Dima Hasao District
Congress party President, Mohendra Kemprai, was attacked in an
autonomous council poll related violence injuring three persons
in the District. The incident occurred in Hamri constituency of
DHAC, elections for which are to be held on May 20. Police is
investigating the incident and search operation has been launched
for the attackers. Kemprai had filed an FIR against five persons,
three senior leaders of the DHD-J / BW and two junior members.
In the same constituency earlier on May 8, assailants had damaged
a vehicle of Independent candidate Debolal Gorlosa who has lodged
an FIR with the police regarding the incident.
Arrested ULFA-PTF member Manoj
Rajbongshi alias Anupam confessed that he along with three others,
had triggered a crude bomb explosion in Chandmari area of Guwahati
city on April 29 to create a fear psychosis. The ULFA-PTF member
was arrested on charges of extortion May 9.
SFs arrested a person, John Haokip,
who was about to launch a Kuki militant group on the behest of
NSCN-IM, in Karbi Anglong District.
|
| May 10 |
Based on Haokip's revelation,
SFs on May 10 recovered two SLR s.
|
| May 11 |
SFs arrested one of Haokip associate,
Pradip Das (30), from Amrajan near Sukanjan under Bokajan police
station of Karbi Anglong."We have reports that Haokip attended
the Dimapur meeting [with NSCN-IM] and was entrusted with the
task of floating a new Kuki rebel outfit. Pradip is reportedly
a close associate of Haokip and is assisting him in the mission,"
the Police Source said. According to the source, work on floating
the Kuki group was in the preliminary stage and the youths had
only been provided some weapons to start the groundwork. The outfit
was yet to get a name, he added.
SFs arrested a youth, Sanjib Hasnu,
from Pub Gajalipar area, on the charge of extortion of money in
the name of KPLT from different businessmen in the District.
Meghalaya Governor R.S. Mooshahary
has admitted that Maoists are trying to establish themselves in
India's northeastern States, even as he said situation in the
Northeast has largely improved. "The Assam government had received
few indications that Maoists are trying to establish a foothold.
The plain areas along the Meghalaya-Assam border could be vulnerable
to Maoists," Mooshahary said. The Assam government, which had
also formed a Task Force to combat the Maoists, had found that
there are 181 Maoist cadres in the state. It includes women cadres.
Stating that the situation in
the Northeast has largely improved, Mooshahary, who was also the
former chief of the Border Security Force, said, "The region,
barring Manipur have improved a lot in the law and order front,
and the current trend in the region is towards peace." Mooshahary,
however, urged the State government in the region to improve governance
and fight against corruption, eradicate poverty and provide employment
avenues.
Unidentified militants abducted
a supervisor, Kalyan Kundu (45) of a Kolkata-based private company,
UC Consultation, from Bengtol in Chirang District.
|
| May 12 |
ULFA-ATF / ULFA-Independent, in
an email statement, said some people were collecting money in
their name in the Districts of Tinsukia and Dibrugarh without
their knowledge.
The GNC, one of organizations
representing the Garo tribe in the State, stated that an autonomous
council should be created by including Garo-dominated villages
of the State, which at present fall under the RHAC. GNC 'working
president' Tharman Momin claimed that there are 359 Garo-dominated
villages in the Kamrup (rural) and Goalpara Districts that are
included in the RHAC."Along with the 359 Garo-dominated villages,
we also want to include 24 Khasi-dominated villages in the two
districts in the exclusive autonomous council for the Garos of
Assam. GNC has been asking for an autonomous council for the Garos
for a long time, and the state government should consider our
demand seriously," Momin said. GNC has vehemently opposed the
demand of GHSMC, a Meghalaya based organisation, of including
a few villages of Kamrup (rural) and Goalpara in their proposed
'Garoland'.
DGP, JN Choudhury stated that
though the level of violence involving the militant groups has
come down, growing ethnic tension in different parts of Assam
has become a matter of serious concern. Meanwhile, over 60,000
cases are pending in different Police Stations of the State, which
is another major area of concern for the Assam Police.
DGP, Choudhary, said that with
majority of the militant groups having come forward for talks
with the Government, the level of violence has come down and only
the anti-talk faction of the ULFA-ATF, NDFB-IKS, KPLT etc are
active in the State now. However, these groups do not have all
Assam footprints. But extortions by the NDFB-RD/ NDFB-IKS remain
an area of concern, the DGP said.
Choudhury admitted that the growing
ethnic tensions are a matter of concern as in recent times, the
Kokrajhar and Goalpara areas of the State witnessed serious ethnic
disturbances and long-term strategies would have to be taken to
deal with the problem. He said that efforts are on to increase
the number of Police Stations to improve civil policing and the
State Government has already sought financial assistance from
the Centre for setting up of new police stations.
The DGP pointed out that of late,
the mobs have become more and more aggressive and dealing with
such mobs is a major problem as the Supreme Court also gave clear-cut
guidelines on the use of force.
|
| May 12-13 |
Police arrested five youths on
charges of impersonating as cadres of ULFA-ATF and trying to extort
over phone, in Bongaigaon District. The arrested persons were
identified as Bikram Pradhan [arrested on May 12], Sukumar Barman,
Shankar Boro, Mohendra Roy and Krishna Kanta Bhaumik [rest arrested
on May 13].
|
| May 13 |
One Lalit Hatibaruah was arrested
at Margherita in Tinsukia District for attempting to extort money
from a businessman Ranjit Singh of the area posing as an ULFA-ATF.
|
| May 14 |
ULFA-ATF/ ULFA-Independent criticized
the Assam Government for conferring the Srimanta Sankardev
Award for the year 2008 on to veteran film personality Sharmila
Tagore. In an email statement issued by Arunodoi Asom, 'publicity
secretary' of (ULFA-ATF/ ULFA-I) said, "Selecting Bollywood actor
Sharmila Tagore alias Begum Ayesha Sultana for the prestigious
award is an insult to the Vaishnavite saint in whose honour the
award was constituted. The actor has made no contribution to spreading
the aura and ideologies of the saint. How could Chief Minister
Tarun Gogoi select her for the award?"
AASA of Assam staged a rally at
the Industrial Training Institute field in Bongaigaon District.
AASA said if the Adivasis did not get ST status before the 2014
Lok Sabha election, the community would boycott the polls.
AAMSU staged a demonstration in
front of the Dhubri and Goalpara Deputy Commissioners' offices
demanding a judicial inquiry into the Police firing at Rakhasini
in Goalpara and Baghmari in Biswanath Chariali on April 29-30.
AAMSU also demanded the rehabilitation of people displaced in
the BTAD violence in 2012.
Supreme council of the UPLF has
called for a 36-hour Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao Districts strike
beginning from 5 am of May 17. UPLF is demanding immediate creation
of separate state comprising the Karbi and Dimasa areas of India
under the provision of Article 244(A) of Indian constitution.
UPLF come into existence on January 4, with an aim to create a
separate Dimasa Karbi-Anchal State comprising the Hill Districts
of Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao.
|
| May 15 |
UKDA has claimed that they are
dismayed over the Government's backtrack attitude on the peace
proposal of Kuki community of Karbi Anglong District. UKDA 'general
secretary', Alex Kuki said the government had assured that the
cadres will be provided the necessary needs during their stay
inside the designated camp, but in reality Government has done
"little". According to UKDA 'defence secretary ', Martin Kuki
Government assistance of INR 300,000 to 150 cadres hardly solved
the problems of the defenceless Kuki youths inside the designated
camp. UKDA demanded police protection and humanitarian aid.
ASM, ITPF and NDFB-PTF have asked
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to instruct the State government
to identify and detect foreigners before updating the NRC.
SFs arrested a 'district committee'
member of CPI-Maoist, Kavita Rabha (31), was arrested from Odalbakra
area in Kamrup District. SFs recovered two desktops, one hard
disc, three pen drives, 15 Compact Disks, two cell phones and
some incriminating documents including Maoist literature from
her rented house. IGP-CWR Dr LR Bishnoi stated that Kavita was
entrusted with the job of printing Maoist literature and circulating
them, besides maintaining of accounts. Kavita Rabha is the wife
of Anukul Naskar alias Paresh, a senior CPI-Maoist leader, who
was arrested from Cachar District by Assam Police on May 7, 2013.
Based on Kavita Rabha's revelations,
Ranchi (Jharkhand) Police arrested Prasanna alias Pranab,
who is the elder brother of Kavita and a hardcore Maoist. Later
in the day, Kavita Rabha's younger brother Rajiv Rabha was also
detained from Hajo in Kamrup District.
Thousands of students lead by
KSU came on street demanding stern action against KPLT for serving
extortion notice to a cleric of a Christian missionary school
in Dokmoka in Karbi Anglong District. According to Police, the
KPLT served two extortion notices on May 7 and 11 May to Bronson
Sangma, principal of Church of Christ English School.
The KRA-A has registered its opposition
to the proposed formation of a new Kuki underground group in the
State by vested Kukis in collusion with some Rengma Nagas of Karbi
Anglong recently. A statement issued by the 'information secretary'
of KRA-A, Chungngam Lhangum alias Rex cautioned all concerned
never to be misled by one Letjang Thangeo and his comrades while
also urging the people not to associate with them. KRA-A pledged
that it would never allow Letjang Thangeo and his comrades to
carry out the evil design while also warning him of facing dire
consequence if he continues to spread rumours, confusion, etc.
|
| May 16 |
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi assured
the AASU that the exercise of updating the NRC throughout the
State would be done at the earliest. AASU raised the demand of
conducting the NRC exercise throughout state at 'one go' before
2014 Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) Election.
|
| May 17 |
Gauhati High Court acquitted the
former ULFA leader, Arup Konwar, by a trial court for killing
Assam minister Nagen Neog and eight others in Golaghat District
of Assam in 1996. Konwar alias Tutu alias Amar Singh
- a 'sergeant major' of ULFA - was convicted and sentenced to
life imprisonment by the District and sessions court, Kamrup,
on October 12, 2007. The CBI, which had investigated the case,
will now appeal in the Supreme Court against the order. The high
court acquitted Konwar on grounds of lack of sufficient evidence.
|
| May 18 |
A militant belonging to ULFA-I militant , identified
as Rajib Moran alias Rohim Asom , surrendered to Police in Tinsukia
District. The rebel deposited two Chinese grenades.
Two NSCN-K militants, 'lance corporal' Thothung
Hakhun and 'sergeant major' Dapnong Tonglim, surrendered at the
25 sector Assam Rifles (AR) headquarters at Lekhapani in the same
District. The duo deposited two 7.65 mm pistols and ammunition.
ADGP-SB, Khagen Sarma, said that the Adivasis
of Assam, who constitute the tea labourer community, have so far
remained out of the influence of CPI-Maoist. The Maoist, instead,
has recruited youths, who have been either member of some militant
outfits in the past or belong to indigenous tribal communities
of the State.
A rally jointly organised BNC and BPF was held
at Santipur in Chirang district on May 19 to protest against extortions
and frequent abductions. Various organisations and Gaonbura
(village headmen) from the neighbourhood supported the rally in
which over a thousand people took part with placards, banners
and festoons demanding an end to extortion drives by various militant
groups and outfits. "The activities are expected to rise because
of the growth of saboteur groups or organisations in the region,"
said BPPF president and BTC member, Rabiram Narzary. He urged
the administration to take stringent measures to stop the crimes.
|
| May 19 |
KPLT militants shot dead, Joysing Senar (35),
at Lang Tor Tor village under Dokmoka Police Station in Karbi
Anglong District. According to sources, the slain person had run
an extortion racket in the area in the name of KPLT. The sources
also told that he was the former member of now ceasefire group
Karbi Longri and KLNLF, but later switched to KPLT. He was later
expelled from the organization on the ground of gross indiscipline
and impropriety.
KPLT's 'Chairman', Bidisar Tungjang, forewarned
any duplicate members to take heed from the lesson taught to Joysing
Senar. He said that any person caught in maligning the organization's
name would meet with similar kind of fate. He also reiterated
that people should not quickly jump into conclusion or slam them
before corroborating the fact; such reckless condemnation will
not be taken by them lightly.
|
| May 20 |
CPI-Maoist has managed to create a base in six
Districts of the State with at least 150 fresh followers. "The
char areas of Dhubri District bordering West Bengal and forest
areas are the new targets of Red rebels [CPI-Maoist]. The Maoists
are also spreading tentacles in Goalpara, Bongaigaon, Silchar
(Cachar), Karimganj and Kamrup (rural) Districts too. They have
created a fresh support base of at least 150 cadres in these districts,"
said Inspector-General of Police-Central Western Range (IGP-CWR)
L R Bishnoi. "Naskar and Kabita [recently arrested from the State]
have already succeeded in forming district committees in these
districts. Once the support base is created, they were planning
to send some of them to Jharkhand for further training under the
guidance of Chandrashekhar Das, a veteran Maoist leader," added
an official of State Police.
|
| May 21 |
SFs arrested a militant belonging to the NDFB-IKS,
Mandish Daimary, from Mainaguli in Sonitpur District.
BPPF urged the Central Government to hold peace
talks with all the factions of the NDFB on the issue of their
long standing demand for creation of separate state of Bodoland
by creating a congenial atmosphere in the region. BPPF expressed
concern over the rise in incidents of extortion and threats to
people by militant groups along the India-Bhutan border areas
in Kokrajhar and Chirang Districts. "People are even asked to
leave the area if they are unable to pay the extortion amount.
It is a matter of great concern. The government should take appropriate
steps against the militant groups," he said.
SFs arrested two suspected NDFB militants, Bailo
Basumatary (32) and Anil Boro (30), from a guesthouse at Jatia
in Kamrup (metro) District. Police said two .9mm pistols and 12
rounds of live ammunition were recovered from them. A case has
been registered in Dispur Police Station and an investigation
was on.
|
| May 22 |
SFs revealed that arrested militant of the NDFB-IKS,
Mandish Daimary is a key accused in the Adilur Rahman murder case.
NDFB-IKS militant, Mandish Daimary was arrested on May 21, 2013,
when he went to collect INR 25,000 as extortion money from a businessman.
According to the Police, he acted as the NDFB-IKS's 'collection
in-charge' in Sonitpur District. Sonitpur SP, Arabinda Kalita,
said this was the first time a cadre of the Songbijit faction
had been arrested in the District. Adilur Rehman, a tea planter,
was killed by NDFB-IKS militants on November 13, 2012.
Police investigating CPI-Maoist activities in
the State have claimed that Siraj Rabha, the arrested 'training
instructor' of CPI-Maoist, is a landmine expert who is wanted
by Police in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. "We had information that
landmine expert Dipesh was in Assam, but initially Siraj did not
admit that he is Dipesh. But when intelligence branch sleuths
from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand came up with his
photograph, he confessed that he is the landmine expert Dipesh,"
a source said. Rabha was arrested on April 26, 2013.
|
| May 23 |
The 12-hour Goalpara District bandh (general
shut down), called by the MSP in protest against killing of five
coal miners at Nangalbibra in Meghalaya's South Garo Hills, passed
off peacefully. The strike was reported to be total, with commercial
establishments, government offices and educational institutions
remaining closed.
Suspected UALA cadres had shot daed the five labourers,
all residents of Goalpara District, on May 20 allegedly in retaliation
to the mine's owner refusal to pay them extortion money.
The 'central committee' of the CPI-Maoist militants
has been pumping in funds to the North East region for some time
to expand their bases in this part of the country. Sources revealed
that the security agencies have come to know that the 'central
committee' of the Maoists has been pumping in funds to the region
every month through Aklanta Rabha, a 'central committee' member
arrested on April 26, 2013, to expand the bases of the Maoists
in this region and also to recruit members for the outfit.
A State security agency document revealed that
the leader of the ULFA-I, Paresh Baruah, had to obey Islamic radicals
and convert to Islam along with his family members in return for
a safe haven in Bangladesh. A source associated with the compilation
of the document said that Baruah, a Hindu by birth, after converting
to Islam, changed his name to Kamruj Zaman Khan, while his wife
Bobby Dutta is now known as Sofian Zaman. The Baruahs converted
to Islam when they took refuge in Bangladesh in 2000. "His family
still lives in Bangladesh under the patronage of the influential
radicals and this is one reason why Baruah cannot afford to question
Bangladeshi migrants back in Assam. He now lives in hiding, off
the money extorted from people in Assam," the source said. Paresh
Baruah now leads ULFA-I from Myanmar.
|
| May 24 |
Security Forces arrested a ULFA-I militant Jyoti
Baruah (25). Jyoti was allegedly involved in a grenade blast case
in Sivasagar in 2012.
|
| May 25 |
AAGSU blocked the National Highway-52 in Sonitpur
District, for two hours, to protest against extortion notices
given by NDFB to Gorkha residents of BTAD and parts of Sonitpur
District. AAGSU 'Sonitpur District committee secretary' Gopal
Chetry said the NDFB threatened the people living in the Nepali
dominated villages to provide INR 50,000 or else leave the BTAD
Districts. Chetry also claimed that the more than 200,000 Gorkha
population at Charduar, Balijuri, Tinikhuti, Vimajuli, Gohpur
and Biswanath Chariali subdivisions were not feeling safe due
to the extortion drive of the insurgent group.
|
| May 26 |
SFs arrested two militants of the MULTA, identified
as Abdul Hussain and Abdul Khalak, at Rowmari area in Darrang
District. SFs recovered a .303 rifle, one pistol and three rounds
ammunition from them.
SFs arrested a ULFA linkman, Matiyur Rahman, from
village Barajol in Nalbari District. SFs recovered one 7.65mm
US made pistol and 2 live rounds were from his possession.
ULFA-I 'criticized' the State Government's failure
to prevent killing of one-horned rhinoceros in the KNP despite
its 'tall claim' over enhanced deployment of forces armed with
sophisticated weapons. The ULFA-I in an e-mailed statement to
the media called upon the people of Assam to demand withdrawal
of all forces from KNP for their failure to protect the rhino
and demanded that the responsibility of protection of Kaziranga
resources should be handed over to fringe area villagers. The
ULFA-I further stated that it would cooperate with villagers in
protecting the rhino and other resources of the Park.
|
| May 27 |
The Assam Government requested the Central Government
to declare nine Districts of the State as LWE affected.
Sources revealed that as per the proposal, the
State Government said that the Districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh,
Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Sivasagar, Goalpara, Cachar and
Karimganj should be declared as LWE affected Districts. The proposal
said that 35 Police Station areas of the nine Districts are affected
by CPI-Maoist activities. Those include eight Police Station areas
in Tinsukia, five in Dibrugarh, four in Golaghat, four in Dhemaji,
one in Sivasagar, one in Lakhimpur, three in Goalpara, five in
Cachar and four in Karimganj District. These nine districts have
altogether 103 Police Stations.
replying to a question on the prevailing law and
order situation in BTC and rampant extortions in the BTC, UHS,
Anil Goswami said the District administration and the police forces
in support with the para military forces will tackle the situation.
UHS also held meeting with the District and Police administration
at Kokrajhar Circuit House over the prevailing law and order situation
in the region. The meeting was attended by the Lower Assam Commissioner,
Sabir Hussain, BTC-IGP, GP Singh and others
|
| May 28 |
The BPF, Kokrajhar District committee brought
a bike rally in Kokrajhar against the rampant extortions in the
BTC region by militant organizations and urged Central Government
to take strict action against extortion & all other forms of unlawful
activities. President of the Youth-BPF, Mono Kumar Brahma, speaking
to the reporters said the rally was brought out in Kokrajhar against
the extortion drive carried out by the militant organizations,
particularly the NDFB-IKS in Northern Part of the region.
MLA Pramila Rani Brahma while talking to reporters
said the extortionists have been serving notice for paying huge
amount of money ranging from INR 1 million to INR 2 million in
Ultapani and Saralpara area in the District and created a reign
of terror in the region. She said the militant organizations,
particularly the NDFB-IKS' ongoing extortion drive in the Northern
part of the region and should be stopped by any means and the
Government should act accordingly against them.
|
| May 29 |
According to intelligence sources, the CPI-Maoist
have recruited at least eight to 10 persons from Cachar District's
Borkhola and Karimganj District's Patherkandi blocks during the
past three months. The sources said the recruiters were primarily
focussing on tea tribe youths and other poor sections, including
the Kaibarta community.
the BTC Regional Committee of the AGS demanded
the State government to safeguard and protection of lives and
properties of Gorkha people living within BTC region. They also
demanded round the clock vigilance and Police pickets in certain
places where the Gorkha have threat perception. 'President' of
the AGS, Laksmi Sedai, said that extortion notices in the name
of the NDFB were served to the innocent Gorkha villagers living
in Indo-Bhutan border areas. He said the villages like Ultapani,
Saralpara, Jharbari, Khalasi, Patgaon and Athiabari in Kokrajhar
District, Shantipur, Runikhata, Malivita, Patabari, Amteka, Kaila-Maila,
and Nijilaguri in Chirang District have been facing the brunt
of anti-social elements.
|
| May 29 |
Unidentified gunmen killed a businessman, Sudha
Roy (34) at Mahur market in Dima Hasao District.
an extortion drive by KPLT in areas near the Nagaon-Karbi
Anglong boundary has forced villagers to flee in panic,. According
to reports, around 20 families of Jargaon village under Jakhalabandha
Police Station in Koliabar sub-division of Nagaon District fled
to the nearby Sakmutia tea estate recently, seeking safety. The
villagers said KPLT cadres had recently come to their village
and demanded an "annual tax" from the residents. "We were asked
to pay INR 1,000 as annual tax. It varied in case of well-to-do
families and those who owned commercial and private vehicles,"
a villager said.
|
| May 30 |
RGOK/ KRA has categorically announced through
media that it no longer prefer violence. Announcing this at a
press conference at Diphu, 'general secretary 'of RGOK and KRA,
Karbi Anglong, Lalsei Gangte said "we want peace and a peaceful
settlement of the decade old Kuki Problems of Karbi Anglong".
two cadres of the NDFB-IKS were arrested by the
army's Red Horn Division in the Kahibari Chowk area of the Udalguri
District bordering Bhutan. The army said the duo, identified as
B Hadwad alias Hakim Basumatry and B Birgrang alias Binju Lis
were involved in large-scale extortion in the District. Two pistols
and ammunition were found on the duo.
Army officials said that there has been a spurt
in the activities of the Songbijit faction in the District after
it broke away recently from the faction headed by Ranjan Daimary,
who is currently in jail and evinced interest for talks.
A college teacher from Chirang District in the
BTAD, who went missing three months ago, is "suspected" to have
joined the NDFB-IKS. Ranjit Basumatary (40) was teaching history
at Bengtol College since 2004. Chirang District superintendent
of Police Kumar Sanjit Krishna said, "The college teacher has
been missing since the past three months. We suspect that he has
joined the NDFB (Songbijit) faction." A close colleague of the
missing lecturer confirmed the development saying, "Ranjit has
completed his basic training with the outfit. Currently, he is
the general secretary of the outfit. He had told me this over
phone," the colleague said.
|
| June 1-2 |
Two suspected CPI-Maoist cadres, Pradip Dhan and
Bijoy Bawri, who are also members of the ATF, were arrested at
Tengakhat in Dibrugarh District. Dhan, who was arrested on June
1, revealed Bawri's whereabouts who was later arrested on June
2.
|
| June 2 |
former Governor of Assam, Lieutenant General (retired)
SK Sinha has attributed prevalence of militancy and lack of development
and influx in the Northeast states as a result of bad governance.
Stating that bad governance has brought upon itself troubles from
various sectors, Sinha said that the growth and development of
the north eastern region is hampered by bad governance, the ill
effects of which is militancy and influx.
Sihna observed, "Bureaucracy has collapsed, judiciary
is collapsing, police has collapsed and the army is not doing
too well in particular with cases of scam and extra judiciary
killings, some of which even landed in the Supreme Court." Highlighting
on the solutions to these problems, Sinha drew his attention to
the Assam stating that since Assam is the gateway to the north
east, it is the key solution to many problems like influx and
Assam should be taken as a lesson for the north east. "Key to
the solution is how we handle Assam as its population is twice
the population of the north east state put together and strategically
it is the heart of northeast," he added.
|
| June 2 |
Former State Minister for the Welfare of plain
tribes and backward classes, Rajen Mushahary was arrested along
with three alleged cadres of the NDFB-IKS by Security Forces from
his Habrubil residence in Gossaigaon subdivision of Kokrajhar
district on June 2. Mushahary was minister during the AGP government
in the state. The arrested militants were identified as Nusar
Basumatary (30), Anthony Hazoary alias H. Abita (31), and Nal
Narzary (29).
Director General of Assam Police, JN Choudhury,
observed that the ULFA-I no longer has quality and committed manpower
and the outfit has lost its mass base. The DGP said that the main
persons in the outfit either left it or were arrested in recent
times and the new recruits are not as committed as the old guards.
The DGP admitted that the ULFA-I does not have
shortage of weapons as it is now easy to procure weapons if one
has the money. He said there was no direct evidence of the Chinese
Government directly providing weapons to the militants, but it
is a fact that the militants are getting weapons from China.
The DGP also said that the ULFA-I has lost its
sanctuaries in Bangladesh and Bhutan, which weakened the outfit
to a large extent, but it still has some bases in Myanmar. He,
however, admitted that the situation may change a bit if a change
of guard takes place in Bangladesh in the elections scheduled
later this year as the ULFA-I and other militant outfits of the
North East were given a free run by the previous regime in the
neighbouring country.
|
| June 3 |
Unidentified militants from Nagaland on June 3
killed a tea garden worker, Sanjoy Bhumij (25), while he was ploughing
a paddy field on the southern fringes of the Naginijan tea estate
along Mariani in the Assam-Nagaland border area.
Former Governor of Assam and Jammu and Kashmir,
Lieutenant General (Retd) SK Sinha, said that vote bank politics
resulted in deterioration of the situation in Assam and there
is every possibility of worsening of the situation if the problem
of infiltration of foreigners is not dealt with.
Commenting on the fact that 14 Districts of the
State recorded abnormal growth of population as per the 2011 census,
the report of which was released recently, the former Governor
said, "it is a self inflicted wound. Over the years, no Government
tried to deal with the problem of infiltration of foreigners and
the abnormal growth of population is a result of the vote bank
politics."
On the militant-politician links, Lieutenant General
SK Sinha said, "there is no reason for any controversy. I only
said that there is a former ULFA man in the present Cabinet. I
need not mention the name of the person as everyone is aware of
the fact. I also said that during my tenure as the Governor of
Assam, the then state government headed by the Asom Gana Parishad
(AGP) fully cooperated with me to deal with militants with strong
hands." Earlier, Lt Gen Sinha, on May 31 had labelled the same
allegation in reaction to Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi's
alleged remark in 2006 saying that the leaders of, AGP, were insurgents.
On May 30, State Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that Rahul was
100 per cent correct in his assessment.
|
| June 5 |
AR troopers arrested four cadres of a militant
group, who were running an extortion racket, in Dima Hasao District.
AR recovered one.22 pistol with magazine and three .22 ammunition
from them.
A senior Police official claimed that NSCN-IM
was involved in the killing a farmer in Naginijan area along the
disputed Assam-Nagaland border on June 3. "We have inputs, NSCN
(IM) fired at him," said SN Singh, Inspector General of Police
(IGP, Law and Order), after taking stock of the current situation
in the entire bordering area in Mariani. The rebels are now hiding
in the jungles of Mokokchung District in Nagaland, he said. Police
also denied existence of any rebel outfit called the ATTLV, which,
according to the Nagaland Government, had started the trouble
on June 3 by firing first at Naga farmers near the border behind
the garden.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in his speech at a
conference on internal security in New Delhi cautioned that if
the next Bangladesh Government changes its anti-terror policy,
militancy will be on a revival path in the State. He also requested
that the Central Government to closely monitor Bhutan, where efforts
are on by outfits to reopen their camps.
The CM also pushed for upgrade of IR battalions
in Assam to a special force for effective anti- CPI-Maoist operations
as approved for other CPI-Maoist-affected states. Gogoi is worried
about the vulnerability of riverine islands of the State, which
are located in remote areas and have barely any communication.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, described the security
situation in the Northeast as "complex" since insurgency, extortion
and agitations continue to exist in the region. "The security
situation in the northeast continues to be complex, with insurgency,
extortion and agitations being the main disruptive elements in
the hands of the insurgents," he said in his address at the conference
of Chief Ministers on internal security in New Delhi.
Singh, however, said there has been considerable
progress in dialogue with several insurgent and ethnic separatist
groups in the northeastern region. "A memorandum of understanding
has been signed with both factions of DHD of Dima Hasao in Assam.
Three Metei insurgent groups have signed a memorandum of understanding
in February 2013. Talks with the NSCN are continuing," he said.
The Prime Minister said the central government was committed to
undertaking and bringing to a satisfactory conclusion dialogue
with all groups and organisations which are willing to give up
violence to seek solutions within the framework of our Constitution.
"We are equally firm in our determination to continue assisting
the states of the northeast to enhance their law and order enforcement
capabilities, so that the people of the northeast enjoy the normal
fruits of democracy and development," he said.
Union Minister for Home Affairs Sushilkumar Shinde
in his address said that SoO Agreements have been entered with
various insurgent groups in the Northeast and these groups have
shown willingness to give up violence and seek solutions for their
problems peacefully within the Constitution. "Our government is
ready to talk with any group or outfit which is willing to abjure
violence and lay down arms like KNO and UPF in Manipur. Further,
Metei groups like URF, KCP and KYKL along with their factions,
signed MoS in February, 2013 paving way for surrender of their
cadres," he said. Shinde said peace talks are also being held
with a number of outfits like ULFA, NDFB-P and NDFB-RD. These
strategies have resulted in steady reduction in the level of violence.
"Moreover, the aforesaid strategy of the government has also encouraged
surrender by militants belonging to various groups and their participation
in the political process. The central government is continuously
assisting the northeastern states by the deployment of central
paramilitary forces to assist the state police in counter-insurgency
operations and upgrading their skill level", he added.
|
| June 6 |
Suspected militants belonging to KPLT abducted
three persons from the Geleki area, near the boundary of Kaziranga
National Park, in Karbi Anglong District. The abducted persons
were identified as Bijoy Barma, Paresh Saikia and Binud Kalita.
However, Binud managed to escape. All the three were engaged as
daily wage earners in the construction work of the National Highway.
Former DHD-J 'chairman' Jewel Garlosa and 'commander-in-chief'
Niranjan Hojai prayed before the Gauhati High Court for the extension
of their interim bail, which ended on June 4. However, the High
Court division bench reserved their view on the matter. The matter
will be discussed again in a different division bench, which will
include the Chief Justice of the High Court. The State Government
has not opposed the appeal by the duo for absolute bail.
The AASTGA demanded compensation from the State
government for the destruction of tea plantations at Geleky in
Sivasagar District by villagers from Nagaland.
|
| June 7 |
State Government will equip Assam police personnel
manning inter-state boundaries with more sophisticated weapons
and modernise border checkposts. While rejecting a proposal for
a specialised force to deal with problems on the border, the Assam
home department said vigorous patrolling along borders by police
and CRPF personnel would be initiated. The proposal was submitted
by minister of state for border area development Siddique Ahmed
in the aftermath of the June 3 border flare-up between Assam and
Nagaland near Mariani in Jorhat District.
Further, Nagaland Government asked its border
villagers to exercise "maximum restraint" to allow peace to return.
The 'central committee' of the AAASA, withdrew the economic blockade
imposed on Nagaland along the National Highway (NH) 39 at Bokajan
and NH 36 at Dokmoka in Karbi Anglong District. The economic blockade
was imposed on June 6.
MHA has refused to tag the State as Maoist-hit
despite the repeated pleas of the state government for assistance
to check the spread of Maoists. Chief Minister (CM), Tarun Gogoi
has warned the Centre that state has a history of armed struggle
and, so, it is vulnerable to the Maoists. The menace should be
dealt with right now, added Gogoi. "The Centre thinks Maoists
are not yet a problem in the state but my argument is that why
can't we nip it in the bud so that we don't have to toil hard
later to curb the menace," the CM said.
|
| June 8 |
The ULFA-I 'condemned' the tea tribe for the murder
of an Assamese youth in Sonitpur District on June 7. ULFA-I' 'publicity
secretary' Arunodoy 'Asom' said on June 8 said the tea tribe has
often killed indigenous people from other communities. "The tea
tribe is an integral part of the greater Assamese society, but
it should not act inhumanely and kill people from other indigenous
Assamese communities," Arunodoy 'Asom' said.
The CPI-Maoist have started adopting a very unusual
method in their attempts to win over the hearts of the tea garden
workers of Assam, that is distribution of CDs of a film based
on Maoism. As a part of the Maoist's attempts to win over the
hearts of the tea workers, CDs of Chakraveyuh, a popular Hindi
film, are being distributed among the tea workers and on a few
occasions, screening of the film was also arranged. Highly placed
security sources told newspaper that in recent time, the CPI-Maoist
have started targeting the tea garden workers.
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