North East India News | January 1, 2008

Itanagar: Tension loomed large at Gumto Village under Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh following Monday’s unprovoked demolition of the check gate and a few granaries by Assam police personnel when a ministerial team visited the area on Tuesday to assess the situation.

The team comprising Home Minister Jarbom Gamlin, PWD and Urban Development Minister Nabam Tuki, Water Resource Development Minister Tako Dabi, Forest Minister Newalai Tingkhatra and local MLA Ngurang Pinch interacted with the villagers, sources said.

While condemnation poured in from various sections of the society, the state government was contemplating to take up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram seeking their intervention for immediate appropriate action, sources added.

Two companies of Assam Police personnel, led by Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police of Lakhimpur District, armed with weapons, virtually raided Gumto village and destroyed the newly constructed police post in the wee hours of Monday and arrested three Arunachal Pradesh police personnel deployed on the check gate duty and lodged them at Laluk police station lockup.

The Assam police also took away one motorbike belonging to one police constable and a television belonging to a villager.

The state government had strongly condemned the barbaric act of Lakhimpur district administration, commented Mr Dabi, who is also state government spokesman, during a press conference here on Tuesday.

He said the rule of law provides that even in case of unauthorized encroachments, the authority must give legal notice before eviction.

Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu on Monday talked to his Assam counterpart Tarun Gogoi, who expressed his lack of awareness on the incident and assured to initiate an inquiry into the incident and take action against the guilty.

Lok Sabha MP from the state Kiren Rijiju also apprised the matter to Mr Chidambaram who also responded positively. Suggesting that the issue could be resolved through mutual dialogues, Mr Dabi said that such unprovoked act was not appreciable from any point. (UNI)

Rebel leader slain in Manipur

Imphal: A militant leader believed to be a self styled army chief of the proscribed Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) was gunned down by a combined force of 39 Assam Rifles and Imphal East police commandos on Tuesday evening following an encounter that took place at the approached road between Koirengei to Maibakhul, about 6 km north from Heingang police station in Imphal East district.

According to an official source, the incident took place at around 6:15 p.m. Detailing further of the incident, the official source revealed that the combined force had been on alert for the past few days following a specific information that underground elements were to hold a meeting in the Koirengei area. And on Tuesday evening as the combined force were on duty as usual, the encounter occurred with the suspected militant outfits and in the event, one of them was gunned while two managed to escape, conveyed the official source.

A 9mm pistol along with 4 live ammunitions were recovered from the slain person, said the source and added the slain person is suspected to be one Shyanbi alias kokkai, 50, of Monsangei, Imphal West district and a self styled army chief of the KCP. (NNN)

NSA detainee flees from hospital

Imphal: A Manipur youth leader detained under National Security Act (NSA) has escaped from J N Hospital in the capital complex here, where he was kept in judicial custody, police said on Tuesday.

Sapamcha Kangleipal, president of Manipur Forward Youth Front (MAFYF) escaped through a hospital window by cutting through it with a sharp weapon after hoodwinking the security personnel in the early hours on Monday.

Kangleipal had been brought to the hospital from Sajiwa jail in the outskirts of Imphal following ill health in June. He was arrested in May for criticising the government’s decision to recruit special police officers (SPOs) at Heirok village in Thoubal district to protect the village from attacks of militants.

Official sources had said Kangleipal’s criticism of the government decision amounted to indirectly supporting militant organisations and was arrested under provisions of different Acts including IPC (124) and later put under NSA. (PTI)

Pakhi Miyan may strike terror in Assam, warns NGO

Guwahati: Launching a scathing attack on the Assam government and police department for their failure to trace escaped drug lord Pakhi Miyan, Assam Public Works (APW), an NGO, on Tuesday warned of massive terrorist attacks, planned by Miyan, if he remained out of prison.

Comparing Miyan with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, who had also started off as drug mafia before carrying out the 1993 Mumbai blasts, APW director general Abhijit Sharma said Miyan could soon return to inflict terror attacks in the State, if police failed to nab him.

He also maintained that Miyan could not be a mere durg lord anymore and might have established links with the ISI or other fundamentalist groups.

All those near to him should be interrogated to trace him, Mr Sharma said alleging that political leaders, police jail officials and doctors were also involved in helping Miyan escape from the custody, while undergoing treatment at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital on December 21.

On the vexed peace parleys with several insurgent outfits in the State, APW secretary general Bitu Talukdar urged the government to settle the matters at the earliest as the prolonged talks were not helping the cause of peace in the State. He also urged the insurgent leaders to go soft on their demands for the sake of returning peace and harmony to the State. (UNI)

Assam Rifles jawan arrested on rape attempt charge

Agartala: A jawan of Assam Rifles was arrested on charge of attempting to rape a minor at Dhwajanagar in South Tripura district, police said on Tuesday.

Oniyon Kunja was arrested after a woman complained that the jawan lifted her six-year-old daughter on Monday to a nearby place and tried to rape her, police said.

The girl was rescued by locals when the girl raised an alarm.

Meanwhile, a press release issued from Assam Rifles headquarters said that it will cooperate with the police in the investigation and would take strict action if the jawan was found guilty of the crime. (PTI)

ULFA kin ready for peace talks

Guwahati: Even as ULFA on Tuesday called for a peaceful solution to Assam’s problem, a body representing their kin urged the government to declare safe passage and a time-frame for holding negotiations with all extremists groups of the state.

“On the eve of New Year and Bohag Bihu we urge Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to set up a time-frame to facilitate talks with not only ULFA but all the extremist groups of the state, including National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB), as a goodwill gesture in the greater interest of peace,” Abhijeet Sarma, secretary general of Assam Public Works (APW), an NGO of ULFA kin, told reporters here.

Noting that the ‘rigid’ stand of ULFA’s military chief Paresh Barua had adversely affected the peace process, he claimed that nearly 70 per cent of the group’s leadership were for negotiation and safe passage should be granted to those who show willingness.

Barua was not coming for talks at a time when the people of Assam were yearning for peace for reasons of mere ‘selfish gains’, he alleged.

“Barua’s 19-year-old son is studying a school abroad while he is urging the youth of the state to join the group…Why is he not asking his son to take up arms?” Sarma asked.

Sarma urged the government to declare ultra leaders who do not show interest for talks as offenders. “If they are based in foreign countries let the Interpol take action against them,” he said.

On NDFB, he regretted that despite the group’s eagerness for talks the government had not show willingness. “The group is observing unilateral ceasefire and its cadres lodged in designated camps have become frustrated and have taken up arms for carrying out unlawful activities,” he claimed. (UNI)

Tripura: Looking forward to smoking the ‘peace pipe’
2008: In Retrospect

Agartala: In its nearly two-decade rule of this northeastern state, the CPI(M) government in Tripura has found 2008 as the most peaceful year with only the October serial blasts appearing as the only major blotch in the state’s law and order report card.

Another blemish for the state was the outbreak of the avian influenza in April.

After the Left Front government stormed back to power for the fourth consecutive term in March winning 49 seats as against 11 of the opposition Congress-INPT combine in the 60-member House, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar announced that the primary agenda of his government would be development.

Sarkar said peace is the first pre-condition in the state’s march to development.

On October 5, the state capital figured on the country’s rail map after tracks were extended from Ambassa in Dhalai district to Agartala. The final survey for extension of tracks from Agartala to Sabroom, the extreme point of the state in South Tripura district, began on December 25 last and the project to connect Sabroom is likely to be completed by 2012.

All these has been possible due the decline in insurgent activities in the state, official sources said adding that only 11 persons, including three personnel of BSF were killed in extremist attacks when the figure was 21 last year.

The three personnel were killed in one of the extremist attack on November 29 by the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura(NLFT) at remote Jalabasti in Dhalai district.

The number of kidnapping cases has also declined to 30 compared to last year’s figure of 59.

On November 24, Sarkar informed the state assembly that the number of surrendered extremists has increased with 579 insurgents laying down their arms in the last two years. Altogether 1,142 insurgents of the two banned outfits — All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) and NLFT — are now undergoing vocational training so that they can earn their livelihoods, he said.

DoNER minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, during his recent visit to the state, said Tripura has made considerable progress in construction of roads in hilly and rural areas.

The state government has also succeeded in attracting more than Rs 3,000-crore private investments while investors have shown interests in healthcare and rubber-based industries.

Meanwhile, Tripura has demanded access to Chittagong port in Bangladesh, located not far from a sub-divisional town, Sabroom in the state, for facilitating goods movement.

Demanding access to the port, the Chief minister said the port is only 75 km away from Sabroom in South Tripura district and from there goods can enter into the entire northeast.

He stressed on the need for construction of a concrete bridge over Feni river in Sabroom for establishing direct connectivity to the Chittagong port.

The demand for declaring the Ashuganj port in Bangladesh, just 33 km from Agartala as a “port of call” was also raised by the state.

Sarkar also asked for introducing Agartala-Kolkata direct bus service via Dhaka. He said the Centre should take up all pending issues with Bangladesh relating to Tripura.

In April, the state witnessed a severe outbreak of bird flu which surfaced in all four districts of the state and more than one lakh poultry were culled.

It is suspected that the virus infected the state’s poultry from neighbouring Bangladesh, which also faced severe attack of the disease. The state has 856-km-long porous border with Bangladesh.

In another development, Tripura food and civil supplies minister, Sahid Chowdhury resigned from the cabinet on April 18 amid mounting pressure from the opposition parties following his alleged links with a HuJI activist based in Bangladesh.

The Left Front leader and his wife were accused of having close links with the arrested Bangladeshi national Mamun Mian.

However, DGP Pranay Sahaya in a press meet here recently had categorically denied any link of the arrested Bangladeshi national with the minister.

Mamun, an alleged HuJI activist, was arrested by a CID team from West Bengal on March 27 on the basis of information provided by two other nationals of that country who were arrested from West Bengal’s Howrah district with explosives.

The state police had filed a case against Mamun for staying in the country with a forged Indian citizenship and residential certificates.

The state capital was rocked by serial blasts in four places which left 74 persons injured in the evening of October 1.

No one was, however, killed in the blasts.

The DGP told reporters that the blasts were handiwork of surrendered insurgents of ATTF who were trained by United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) in Sylhat district of Bangladesh where they have set up their base camps.

He also said the fundamentalists of Bangladesh were using Tripura as corridor to enter into Indian territory taking the advantage of the 856-km-long porous border.

BSF sources said they have intensified vigil and patrolling along the border so that no unwanted elements can enter India. – The Shillong Times