NEW DELHI, Dec 20 ? The Ministry of Environment and Forest has confirmed that at least nine leopards have died during the last three years in Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam. Though Minister of State for Environment and Forest, Namo Narain Mena, denied that leopards were facing extinction in Assam, the most interesting aspect was the manner of deaths of the leopards.

While four of them died of old age, three others died of poisoning. One fell victim to tea garden labourers, yet another was killed in accident in Chenijan Tea Estate. Only one was killed in fighting.

In reply to a question...

NEW DELHI, Dec 20 ? Jnanpith laureate Dr Mamoni Raisom Goswami has decided to write to ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa expressing her desire to speak to Paresh Baruah. Arriving from her four-day tour of Varanasi, here this afternoon, Dr Goswami was flooded with telephone calls mostly from the media, but not one from ULFA. The author said she was at sea, as anyone else, trying to fathom what may have befallen on Baruah. After waiting till evening, she decided to communicate with the chairman through e-mail.

?Since Rajkhowa has mentioned about me in his communication, I wish to get in touch with...

AGARTALA, Dec 19 ? The banned National Liberation Front of Tripura(NLFT) appears to have been divided into two camps over the question of peace talks with the Tripura government sticking to its view that political demands would not be conceded, reports PTI.

Official sources said here on Saturday that Nayanbasi Jamatiya, the self-styled supremo of the outfit, did not participate in the fourth round of peace talks with the Centre and the State in New Delhi on Friday and has gone back to Bangladesh for relaunching insurgency activities.

Jamatiya has been demanding that he be made the Chief...

NEW DELHI, Dec 19 ? As part of a tripartite settlement with the Centre and the Tripura government, the Nayanbasi faction of the National Liberation Front of Tripura has softened on its political demands and agreed to ask its cadre to come overground, reports PTI.

NLFT cadre - put at around 150 - would be surrendering before December 31 after a tripartite seven-point agreement was signed by the outfit, the State and the Central governments. The State Government has promised to withdraw all cases against them except those relating to crime against women, official sources said at the end of the...

GUWAHATI, Dec 19 ? Reports of growing links between the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the Maoist militants of Nepal are causing concern among the security agencies involved in counter-insurgency operations. Highly-placed security sources revealed that links between the ULFA and the Maoists are established facts and though there are reports of the ULFA setting up camps in Nepal, the security forces are yet to get any conclusive evidence in this regard.

Sources said that according to reports available, several top leaders of the ULFA had meetings with the Maoist leaders and it is...