Insurgency / Assam

DIBRUGARH, March 5— Under the Samaritan scheme of the Assam Police called Project Prahari, at least one remote village in the district is set to see a happier future. The project is a brainchild of the Assam DGP, Hare Krishna Deka. Ordinarily used to round up ruffians and maintain law and order, cops of the Khowang police station in the Dibrugarh district are taking up an altogether different role as society peers and thereby helping villagers to help themselves.

Project Prahari was launched at the nondescript Bokahulla village on March 17 last year. During the past twelve months, the hundred...

NEW DELHI, March 4 — While ruling out the possibility of creation of an autonomous State for the hill districts of Assam, Minister of Home Affairs (MHA) has clarified that though ceasefire pact is in operation with Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) and United Peoples Democratic Solidarity (UPDS), formal peace talks are yet to start. In a written reply to a question tabled by Dr Jayanta Rongpi in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Home, ID Swami has clarified that at present, there is no proposal for creation of autonomous State within Assam under Article 244 (A) of the Constitution.

The...

GUWAHATI, March 2 — The signing of the Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) by the Union and State Governments with the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) may not bring back the long-awaited peace and normalcy to the proposed Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) areas. While the militants of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) have denounced the MoS as the product of the BLT’s “capitulation” in matters of principle and ideology, the Sanmilita Janaosthiya Sangram Samiti (SJSS), representing over 20 organisations of the non-Bodos living in the BTC areas, has rejected the MoS as “one-sided”, burnt...

Guwahati, March 3: The strategy group of the Unified Command has recommended the formation of a crack police team for Guwahati to counter insurgents.

The recommendation came after a meeting of the Unified Command’s strategy group today which was chaired by chief secretary P.K. Dutta and attended by top security officials, including state director-general of police Hare Krishna Deka and the GOC of Red Horns division Maj. Gen. Gaganjit Singh.

Drawn up on the lines of the Rapid Action Force, the crack team will be ready to move out “within minutes” of a rebel strike. The squad will also carry out...

Guwahati, Feb. 25: The mortar attack on the Indian Air Force base in Borjhar here on Sunday has sparked off a blame game between New Delhi and Dispur which has all but pushed the security threat into the background. A day after defence minister George Fernandes and the Eastern Air Command blamed Dispur for the attack, the latter returned the fire with equal gusto by holding the air force responsible for the security breach.

Besides seeking a detailed report on the incident from the Eastern Air Command, Fernandes said in Shillong yesterday that if needed, he would seek an explanation from the...

HAFLONG, Feb 25 — “Kaun rahega yaha saab ? Ye jungli the jungli hi rahega. Kya ceasefire saab? Woh log to abhibhi paise mang rahe hain. Jeena mushkil ho gaya yahan”, Shushil (not real name), a retired NF Railway staff, said in his sharp voice. What this aggrieved ex-railwayman said can be construed as the reaction of the common man in NC Hills area to the ceasefire declared by the militant Dima Halong Daogah (DHD).

“I have worked here for 40 years since the day I joined NF Railway. Still I am not willing to stay here. I will go back to my ancestral village in northern India so that I can...

Guwahati/Shillong, Feb. 24: Angry over the administration’s failure to prevent the audacious mortar attack on the Indian Air Force base at Borjhar, defence minister George Fernandes has sought a detailed report on the incident and said that Dispur had some explaining to do about lapses in security.

Fernandes made the statement in Shillong even as Assam police rounded up 25 people for interrogation and recovered a mortar left behind by the militants involved in the attack last night.

The defence minister, who was in Meghalaya to boost the National Democratic Alliance’s electoral campaign, said...

GUWAHATI, Feb 24 – The State CID will file chargesheets in court against four surrendered ULFA (SULFA) militants allegedly involved in the killing of 12 of their associates and injuring 10 others at the Moran Polo Club of Upper Assam in 2001, a top police official said here today. The chargesheets would be filed in a day or two against prime accused Jayanta Hazarika, besides Junmoni Dihingia, Dilip Changmai and Probin Bailung, Additional Director General of Police, CID, RN Mathur said. The chargesheets would be filed in the session court here under various Sections 302/307/324/325/427/201/109...

GUWAHATI, Feb 24— Though the Bodo dominated areas of Assam witnessed hype and euphoria following the signing of the Memorandum of Settlement between the Central and State Governments and Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT) for the creation of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), the other major Bodo militant group National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) is yet to come for talks and as the outfit has vowed to carry on its struggle, it remains to be seen whether the pact with the BLT would bring lasting peace to the Bodo dominated areas.

In an interview with The Assam Tribune, the NDFB chairman...

Guwahati, Feb. 23: Suspected Ulfa militants today targeted the Indian Air Force for the first time since launching the guerrilla campaign, firing a mortar on the air base at Borjhar on the outskirts of the city. Fifteen airmen having dinner at their mess had a narrow escape when the mortar pierced the roof and fell on the verandah before exploding. The incident took place around 8.30 pm.

The mortar not only caused “considerable damage” to the building but also dented the confidence of the Congress government, which had been claiming an improvement in law and order since it assumed office. City...