Insurgency / Assam

GUWAHATI, Jan 4 — The State government under leadership of the Chief Minister, Sri Tarun Gogoi will continue its efforts to facilitate negotiation with the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) to find an amicable solution to the insurgency problem in the state. During an informal chat with a few journalists after the foundation laying ceremony of K D Malaviya National Museum here on Thursday, the Chief Minister Sri Gogoi stated that his government had remained undeterred in its efforts to bring ULFA leadership to negotiation table despite the latter’s ‘no’ to the safe passage...

NEW DELHI, Jan 3 — The Royal Government of Bhutan has formally confirmed dismantling of four camps including a military training camp by the ULFA in the country in response to the deadline set by the Government there. A spokesman of the Royal Bhutanese Embassy told The Assam Tribune here today that official of the Royal Government have physically verified the spot where the camps were located and found that sheds have been demolished and camps dismantled by the ULFA. The abandoned camp included one military training camp near Samdrup Jongkhar. According to the spokesman, the ULFA first...

GUWAHATI, Jan 2 — Despite expiry of the deadline on Monday night set by Bhutan Government for militant outfits ULFA and NDFB to close their camps on its soil, the banned outfits defied the diktat and only relocated a few camps, reports PTI. Official sources here said the extremists did not vacate any of their camps set up on the Bhutan hills along Assam, but had only relocated four United Liberation Front of Asom camps within that country’s territory. The sources attributed the failure of the insurgents to dismantle their camps in deference to King Jigme Singme Wanchuk’s orders to the mountain...

GUWAHATI, Jan 1 — The Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that he would consider a ‘safe passage’ to the militants of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) as a goodwill gesture for the new year, if they responded to the Government’s appeal for negotiations, reports PTI. “I will be happy to respond to their cooperation by giving them safe passage to visit their families during the new year,” Gogoi told PTI when asked if he would offer safe passage to the ultras as a goodwill gesture. Saying that no date for commencement of the offer or its duration had decided yet, he...

GUWAHATI, April 30: In view of the stepped up activities of the insurgent groups, the Operational Group of the Unified Command today decided to deploy about 300 columns of the security forces in the State during the election this time. The Operational Group, which met at Narengi today under the presidentship of GOC 4 Corps Lt Gen Mahesh Vij, discussed in detail the steps required to check interference of militants in the election process and thus to create an atmosphere of safety for the people at large to exercise their franchise freely. The meeting also worked out the methods to optimise the...

GUWAHATI, April 27: The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has hatched a plan to target several prominent Ministers during the poll process, highly placed police sources said. Sources revealed that the Chief Minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and his wife Jayashree Goswami Mahanta, MP have been identified as the prime targets by the militant outfit as the ULFA leadership is of the view that they suffered serious setbacks because of the tough stand taken against them by the Chief Minister. The other Ministers likely to be targeted by the ULFA include the Agriculture Minister Chandra Mohan...

NEW DELHI, April 24: In a development that may raise the hackles of the human rights bodies, the Minister of Home Affairs (MHA) has identified the Assam based Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti (MASS) as among six Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) having links with the militant outfits. The fall out of the move is that all the state governments in the Northeastern Region have been alerted not to release any government funds to any NGO in the region without proper verification. It has been decided that the Union government would release funds to NGOs in the region only after physical verifications...

JORHAT, April 13: Rongali Bihu marks a joyous beginning to the Assamese New Year. But for the Gogoi family from Tingkhong in Upper Assam's Dibrugarh district, this season of joy has turned into one of despair. Unlike in the past two years, the Asom Gana Parishad-led government's decision not to offer "safe passage" to ULFA militants this Rongali Bihu has been a major disappointment for the Gogois, who had been hoping to see their 27-year-old son Abhay during the festival. Abhay joined the ULFA just before the last Assembly elections in 1996. His native village of Tingkhong has long been an...

GUWAHATI, April 7: Timed to coincide with the 'foundation day' of the rebel United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), surrendered members of the organisation, under the umbrella of the Asom Jatiya Mahasabha (AJM), today celebrated the day as 'anti-insurgency' and 'progress-heralding' day all over the State. The surrendered ULFA (SULFA) members were one in asserting that only peace could bring about the much-needed economic development in Assam. Addressing a mammoth public meeting at the Chandmari ground here this afternoon, senior SULFA leader and member of the steering committee of the...

GUWAHATI, April 5: As part of the army's drive to prevent ration supply from reaching militants, militant outfits in Assam are facing an acute shortage of food in their camps along the Bhutan border. Defence sources said that in desperation, the NDFB militants had contacted a middleman of Chamrang village to procure food supply. In a major operation, Army troops of the Red Horns Division operating in Darrang district, also exposed a nexus between the NDFB and villagers along the international border. Army apprehended the middlemen Bir Bahadur Niwar last week and recovered Rs 13,400, including...