The ruling Congress has so far decided on party nominees for six Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam while names of prospective candidates for the rest of the constituencies have been screened and sent to the central election committee of the party for final selection.
Two old couples were killed by suspected tribal militants belonging to the Black Widow outfit in two seprate incidents in remote parts of North Cachar Hill district of Assam in the wee hours on Friday.
Political parties in Assam, barring the Congress, and the state government employees have voiced unhappiness over the poll dates announced by the Election Commission for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections as those coincide with celebration of Rongali Bihu, the Spring Festival in the state.
The United Liberation Front of Asom doves, the pro-talks faction of the ULFA, has demanded full autonomy for Assam within the framework of the Constitution, after detaching itself from the banned militant group's demand for the 'restoration of Assam's sovereignty'.Mrinal Hazarika, president of the ULFA doves, submitted a 18-point charter of demand to Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, to resolve the insurgency problem in the state.
There is good news for activists fighting to save the dwindling population of tigers in India. A sample survey in Kaziranga National Park in Assam, which is being carried out by the conservation group Aaranyak under the aegis of the Assam Forest and Wildlife Department, has indicated that a sizeable tiger population has survived in the sprawling wildlife sanctuary.The recent deaths of ten tigers in Kaziranga had alarmed the authorities.
The ruling Congress in Assam is way ahead in respect of preparedness for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls compared to its arch rivals, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the regional Asom Gana Parishad.
Even as the green brigade has raised the alarm over the possibility of poaching as the reason behind tiger deaths in the famous Kaziranga National Park in Assam, the Wildlife authority in Assam attributes reasons other than poaching as the cause behind the deaths. Ten tigers in the park have been found dead since November 2008.
The Cupid-struck should better watch out while celebrating Valentine's Day in Assam on Saturday, as volunteers of 'Asom Sena', the moral police wing of All Assam Students' Union is going to keep a close watch on them. "We are not opposed to the celebration of Valentine's Day but will certainly keep a watch so that nothing immoral and vulgar is indulged in by those out on a celebration mood on the day in the state," an official of the Asom Sena said.
Security forces operating under unified command have launched opeation in Tirap and Changlang districts of eastern Arunachal Pradesh which border with Myanmar to check cross border movements of terrorists from Assam and Nagaland to their bases inside Myanmar.
Four officials of an oil exploration company, who were abducted by suspected tribal militants on Thursday afternoon at Langting in North Cachar Hill district of Assam, remain untraced though the police and the army have launched a search operation for them from Friday morning.The police suspect that militants of the Dima Halam Daogah group or the Black Widow might be responsible for the abductions.
Border Security Force personnel have arrested three suspected militants of the People's Liberation Army, a banned Manipuri outfit, at the Indo-Bangladesh border.A BSF source in Meghalaya informed that the PLA militants, including a woman cadre, were heading to their camps in Chittagong hills in Bangladesh. They were arrested from Beltoli area along the international border late on Tuesday night.Meghalaya shares a 443-km border with Bangladesh.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday claimed that over 300-odd cadres, belonging to the banned United Liberation Front of Asom and the anti-peace talks faction of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland, were hiding in Bangladesh. He claimed that at least ten top ranking leaders of the ULFA had taken refuge in the neighbouring country and were operating from there.'ULFA chief Paresh Barua and NDFB chief Ranjan Daimary keep shifting their locations,'Gogoi said
In a major boost for the government and the state security forces, 20 top leaders of the tribal militant outfit All Adivasi National Liberation Army, including its chief Biren Gond alias Sanjay Lakra, have surrendered in Assam. Lakra, along with his comrades, surrendered at Bokajan in Karbi Anglong hill district of Assam on Sunday. The surrender of the top leaders of the outfit came after the recent arrest of its previous commander John Toppo in Nagaland.
The Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang), a militant outfit currently in a state of truce with the government, is providing help and shelter to cadres of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom in Naga villages.According to police sources, the ULFA cadres have found safe haven in Mon district of Nagaland with the help of NSCN-K militants.The ULFA militants often cross the border and flee to Nagaland after carrying out operations within Assam.
The Assam Rifles has thwarted an attempt by the National Socialist Council of Nagaland- Isak-Muivah rebels who are in truce with Government of India forces, to set up a designated camp near the Siroy village in Ukhrul district of Manipur, even as the stand off between the Naga rebels and the Assam Rifles personnel continued in the area.
The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom on Wednesday called for a boycott of the Republic Day celebrations. In a joint statement issued here, the ULFA along with three militant outfits of the region -- Kamatapur Liberation Organisation, Manipur People's Liberation Front and Tripura People's Democratic Front-- called for a boycott and general strike from 1 am to 6 pm on the day to protest against India's military repression.
A huge cache of arms and ammunition belonging to the banned United Liberation Front of Asom were recovered by the police from Sadiya while the Army shot dead two militants in Bongaigaon district on Saturday.During a raid conducted on the basis of specific information, the Assam police stumbled upon a cache of 27 AK 56 assault rifles, 117 magazines and 400 ammunition hidden in the granary of a village household at Kukurmara village in Sadiya sub-division of Tinsukia district.
Getting wind of the design of the proscribed United Liberation Front of Asom's plans to trigger more explosions in the state especially in Guwahati, security forces have mounted vigil all over the state.
At least two persons were killed and over 10 injured when suspected ULFA militants triggered a blast at a market area near the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) headquarters at Maligaon at around 6:30pm on Friday.
A top official in Assam Police informed that two ULFA militants were engaged in an encounter by a joint team of the army and police at Halikuchi on the bank of a river in Rangiya sub-division of Kamrup district on Thursday afternoon. Pranjal Deka was killed in the exchange of fire while the other militant managed to flee by crossing the river.