Insurgency / Assam

GUWAHATI, May 16? A bitter rivalry is slowly developing between the ULFA and the NSCN (IM) following the recent killing of an ULFA cadre at the hands of the NSCN(IM) in Nagaland. And at a time when the North-east is passing through violence and ethnic unrest, this certainly bodes ill for the future.

Revealing this, intelligence sources said the ULFA which has for long been a close ally of the NSCN (K), a sworn enemy of the NSCN(IM), used to maintain a distance with the NSCN (IM), without never really coming into a direct confrontation so far. Similarly, the NSCN (IM) too normally...

HAFLONG, May 16 ? Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi alongwith DG(P), Home Commissioner, Commissioner, Hills and Barak valley etc visited Haflong, the district headquarter of North Cachar Hills, which has witnessed killing of several innocent, burning of houses etc due to recent ethnic clash between the Dimasa and Hmar today.

To console both the bereaved family of Normendu Langthasa and Lienzaova Toulour, who were killed by unidentified gunmen on May 12, Gogoi visted both the places of Langthasa and Toulour and shared sorrows with the families. The Chief Minister held a meeting with the Chief...

GUWAHATI, May 15 — In a joint operation, police and the Army have tracked down a deputy commander in-chief of the banned NDFB undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Downtown Hospital here. Police sources said the NDFB leader, identified as Ajay Brahma alias self-styled major B Olongbar, has not been arrested yet as he is severely ill, but is being kept under strict surveillance.

Police said the militant has been undergoing treatment at the hospital under the assumed name of Nirmal Bodo since May 9. All along police was suspecting his presence, but it was confirmed only...

Silchar, May 12: The conflict between the Hmar and Dimasa tribes appears to have reached flashpoint with the killing of two prominent members of either community on the same day.

Narmendu Langthasa, the fourth son of veterinary minister G.C. Langthasa, was evidently shot dead to avenge the killing of a Hmar leader about an hour earlier. The killings followed the pattern of the ethnic clashes since February — instant reprisal for each attack.

The biggest of these incidents was the massacre of 22 Dimasa tribesmen by Hmar militants in Cachar district on March 31.

Though the atmosphere remained...

GUWAHATI, May 12 — Armed militants struck twice in the heart of Haflong town of North Cachar Hill district today killing two persons in broad daylight including a son of State Hill Areas Development Minister Gobinda Chandra Langthasa and an employee of the Divisional Forest Office (DFO). Police sources here informed that suspected Hmar militants coming in an autorickshaw opened fire at Narmendu Langthasa who was travelling in his car along with his wife to fetch his daughter from a convent school in Haflong town, killing him on the spot while his wife had a narrow escape.

The slain Narmendu...

GUWAHATI, May 11— The mystery over the attack on the ancestral home of ULFA ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh Baruah at Jeraigaon in Dibrugarh district on Tuesday last has deepened with security officials alleging that the attack was stage-managed by the banned outfit to defame the government. What has added to the mystery is the fact that the ULFA is yet to make a detailed statement over the issue.

Security sources here said that there are enough indications to suggest that the ‘attack’ on the home of the ULFA commander in the dead of the night on Tuesday was carried out by members of the outfit...

New Delhi, May 8: Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga has said serious efforts are on to bring the Ulfa to the negotiating table as part of a larger process to establish peace and stability in the Northeast.

?Though I have not yet been able to establish direct contact with any of the Ulfa leaders, we are trying to make them sit for dialogue. The intelligence agencies are also trying for a breakthrough while I am contributing to the process as much as possible,? the chief minister told The Telegraph.

The endeavour comes at a time when the banned outfit had continuously spurned offers for talks...

GUWAHATI, May 8 – The militant United Peoples’ Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) has given a deadline, till May 26, to the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) to pass a resolution withdrawing its earlier recommendations to the government regarding the conferment of ST(Hills) status to the Bodo’s living in Karbi Anglong.Stating that successive ruling parties at the KAAC have sacrificed the political interests of the indigenous tribal community ‘at the alter of political opportunism, the militant group’s publicity secretary L Ronghang said in a press statement that the UPDS will be ‘forced to...

GUWAHATI, May 7 — The tea giant multi-national Williamson and Magor which owns about 30 big tea estates in Assam, recently paid Rs 10 lakh to the proscribed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) to buy peace. This was admitted by NDFB ultras Sunil Brahma and his associate Indra Mohan Basumatary before a large group of newsmen here this afternoon.

The NDFB ultras who were apprehended by Kolkata police recently, were brought to the State today by sleuths of Special Operation Unit (SOU) of Assam police. The duo were produced before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate here immediately...

DIBRUGARH, May 6 — Unidentified miscreants fired several gunshots at the wee hours today at the Jeraigaon residence of ULFA commander-in-chief, Paresh Baruah. According to Miliki Baruah, mother of Paresh Baruah, the family woke up at around 2 am this morning after they heard the shots. Paresh Baruah’s elder brother, Bimal, who is a civilian army employee with the Military Engineer Services at Chabua, lives with his mother in the village.

The police have begun investigating the case. In the last six years, miscreants fired at the house at least on three occasions. A younger brother of Paresh...