Insurgency / Assam

NEW DELHI, March 30: All speculations were today set to rest as the new Bodo agreement involving the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) is likely to be signed only after the State Assembly polls. Negotiations henceforth would take the shape of tripartite talks involving the various Bodo groups, Government of India and Assam Government. The talks were put back on the rails at the meeting between the Union Home Minister, LK Advani and the BLT leadership represented by vice chairman, Kamal Muchahary and publicity secretary, Mainao Doimary. At the meeting, the Union Government agreed to expedite the...

NEW DELHI, March 29: The Union Home Minister, L.K.Advani is meeting the Bodo Liberation Tiger (BLT) here tomorrow to give a final shape to the Bodo agreement. The much-talked about Bodo Accord would come in the shape of a new package, highly placed sources said. The Union government officials under pressure of the Assam Government were racing against time to work out a deal with the Bodo leadership. The sudden urgency on part of the Assam Government emanated from the fear that the signing of the agreement may be delayed as the Election Commission is due to announce the poll schedule after...

KOLKATA, March 29: Indian anti-insurgency forces eliminated two key financiers of the United Liberation Force of Asom and seriously injured another person handling ULFA funds in Bangladesh in three different encounters in the capital city of Dhaka in last Friday. Four gunmen shot Mohammed Reza Jahangir, a businessman dealing in prawn and shrimps and a close-aide of ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, in the posh Shyamali Ring Road area in Dhaka at around 3.30 pm on Friday afternoon. Later in the day, another of Baruah's financier's and owner of a garment factory, Saleem, suffered 60 per...

GUWAHATI, March 22: After lying low for sometime, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) seems to be regrouping again with the ensuing polls in mind. According to intelligence reports, a group of about 40 to 50 hardcore members of the outfit, headed by senior leader Drishti Rajkhowa have already come down from their camps in Bhutan, highly placed police sources said. Police said that according to information available, one group has taken shelter in the Goalpara-Meghalaya bordering areas, and five members of that group were killed in a recent encounter with the Meghalaya police. Another...

GUWAHATI, March 21: The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), M S Gill has issued instruction to the State Administration and the Police to keep all the surrendered militants under strict control during the election process, particularly on the day of the polls. He has also warned that the District Magistrates and the Police would be held responsible if anything goes wrong. Addressing a press conference here today, Gill said that the Election Commission has also issued instruction to confiscate all illegal weapons and take action against all the undesirable elements to ensure free and fair polls...

GUWAHATI, March 17: As a result of the marked improvement in law and order situation in Assam, the flow of tourists to the State has been steadily increasing particularly in the recent years, an official release stated. The fact that the law and order situation in Assam has registered tangible improvement over the last few years is being recognised by foreign countries too and they have started revising their Travel Advice for tourists desiring to visit Assam. Recently, John Mitchiner, Deputy High Commissioner of United Kingdom in Kolkata has, in a letter, informed Assam Chief Minister P K...

GUWAHATI, March 17: The Additional Director General of Police (Operations), GM Srivastava, today lamented that though the law-and-order situation in the State has improved remarkably well during the last three years, a few tea giants with their headquarters in Kolkata and their tea gardens spread over the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, continued paying money to insurgent outfits. Delivering a lecture on the security overview of the State at a seminar on 'Development constraints and economy of Assam' here this morning, Srivastava informed that in spite of the best efforts of the State's police...

DHAKA, March 13: Top ULFA leader Anup Chetia, who is serving jail terms here, is to renew his prayer for asylum, press reports said today, reports PTI. Chetia, who is sentenced to several years' jail term for illegal entry into Bangladesh and possessing foreign currency and other valuables, asked his lawyers to make a fresh appeal for political asylum, the Daily Star reported quoting his lawyer Alina Khan in the court where Chetia was produced for hearing in connection with possessing satellite telephone. The judge adjourned the trial till March 29 due to the absence of the witness and the...

GUWAHATI, March 12: Growth of Islamic militancy in Assam, if not checked immediately, may pose a serious threat to the security of the country as efforts are on by Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) backed outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) is to unite all the small Islamic militant outfits operating in the State, highly-placed police sources said. Sources said that according to information available with the security forces, the HUM is trying to act as an umbrella organisation for all the Islamic outfits operating in the State including the Muslim United Liberation Front of Asom...

GUWAHATI, March 10: For the first time in the entire country, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen militants have come overground in a public function. Six Pakistan-trained Harkat-ul-Mujahideen ultras who hail from the State, bade farewell to arms before the Chief Minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, at an official ceremony held at the Circuit House here this morning. The militants also deposited one AK-56 assault rifle, one AK-47 assault rifle, one pistol and a .303 rifle while surrendering in the function which was attended by three Cabinet colleagues of Mahanta, the Chief Secretary and the entire top brass of...