Insurgency / Assam

Guwahati, January 9: With the NSCN(IM) leaders already in Delhi for talks with the Centre, several smaller underground outfits of the North-East have started showing readiness to come to the negotiating table.

One of the first to have shown such interest is the Dima Halam Daoga, a group operating in Assam’s North Cachar Hills district. The DHD has been demanding a separate state for the state’s Dimasa tribals.

Last week, the outfit announced a unilateral ceasefire for six months, with its vice-chairman Dilip Nunisa saying it was encouraged by the manner in which the Government had responded...

GUWAHATI, Jan 7 — The proscribed Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) will demand a separate State for Dimasas whenever it sits for the peace talks with the Government of India (GoI) as a sequel to the truce. Talking to this newspaper here, the self-styled commander-in-chief (C-in-C) of the outfit, Pranab Nunisa declared, “our primary demand before the Government of India during the peace negotiation will be creation of a separate State (Dimaraji) for Dimasa tribe. We feel, the problems of our people will never get resolved sans a separate State within the territory of India.”

The C-in-C said it took...

Dibrugarh, Jan. 6: In the biggest arms haul in the history of the Northeast, troops of the 2 Mountain Division, in charge of counter-insurgency operations in Upper Assam and parts of Lower Assam, had recovered a huge cache of arms here in August and September 2002. Disclosing this to newspersons at the divisional headquarters of the 2 Mountain Division in Dinjan today, Maj. Gen. H.S. Batra, GOC, said, “The haul was a result of the offensive launched by the force in the region.” The arms hauled included eight Universal machine guns, 42 AK-56 rifles and a large quantity of small arms and...

GUWAHATI, Jan 5 – Though the security agencies are well aware of links between the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the Pakistani intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for the first time, the security forces have come to know about the links between the ISI and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) following the arrest of the outfit’s vice-chairman Dhiren Boro in Gangtok.

Highly placed security sources said that the security agencies always had doubts about links between the ISI and the NDFB, but the doubt was confirmed after the arrest of Dhiren Boro...

Gangtok, Jan. 5: Sikkim police’s prize catch Dhiren Boro has revealed that the National Democratic Front of Borloland (NDFB) was keen on talks with the Indian government. Police sources said Boro, the NDFB vice-president who was arrested from his hideout here on new year’s day, had disclosed during questioning that the outfit was looking for a mediator for opening a dialogue with the Tarun Gogoi government in Assam and the Centre.

The Bodo top gun was arrested along with his wife Pratima Boro and two associates, Babloo Sargari and Praveen Boro, at a rented flat in the flour mill area of Tadong...

Guwahati, Jan. 5: The outlawed United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS) has announced a seven-day economic blockade from January 12 in the two districts of Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills in protest against destruction of forests by ginger cultivators. “The blockade is a step towards implementing a practical and rational forest policy that our outfit has drafted to protect the dwindling green cover in the two districts,” the Karbi Anglong N.C. Hills People’s Resistance, which is the armed wing of the UPDS, said in a release here. “We protest against massive destruction of forestry...

Kokrajhar, Jan. 3: Unidentified armed youths abducted a 35-year-old woman from West Tengagaon under Serfanguri police station near here last night. The abducted woman has been identified as Parme Basumatary, a soldier’s wife. The jawan is posted outside the state. Police sources said a group of at least 12 masked youths, dressed in black fatigues, abducted the woman from her home at 9.30 pm.

The police have launched a combing operation to trace the woman after her daughter, Asha Basumatary, lodged an FIR today.

Imphal, January 03: ‘Kalpana’ a Manipuri digital film produced by Goodwill Pictures is doing well. The premier show was held today at Friends Talkies. The Rs two lakhs budget film has already earned half the cost at Kakching and Thoubal. Produced by Rajendra and Seema the film running nearly two hours signals the heralding of new stars. Lalit, Seema and some other senior artistes who had already proven their mite performed well. The new stars Kaiku and Manda performed well acting with ease and pleasing he spectators with their fresh looks and charm. The story revolves around two sisters who...

Jan. 2: Assam police today moved the chief judicial magistrate of Kamrup for a production warrant against the arrested vice-president of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) even as Sikkim police produced their prize catch in the court of the district sessions judge (east and north) in Gangtok. Dhiren Boro, his wife and accomplices have been booked under four Sections of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). It is the first instance of the legislation being employed in Sikkim. The militant leader and his wife Pratima, also an NDFB member, had been living in Gangtok for...

GUWAHATI, Jan 1: Militant outfit National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) today suffered a major setback as the vice-chairman of the outfit Dhiren Boro alias Sungtha was arrested by Sikkim Police in Gangtok. Dhiren Boro is the second senior leader of the NDFB to be arrested within a month as only last month the general secretary of the outfit Govinda Basumatary was arrested in Rangiya when he was on his way to North Bengal from Dimabur. Highly placed police sources in North Bengal told The Assam Tribune this evening that Dhiren Boro was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of...