as Diwali approaches, homes and markets across India come alive with colour, light, and excitement.
The 45-year old Pakistani national identified as Fasiullah Hussaini was released from the jail on Monday and escorted by the police to Delhi for being handed over to Pakistan Rangers at the Wagah border with the help of the Border Security Force, jail authorities told PTI on Tuesday.
Assam journalist Dilwar Hussain Mozumder was arrested for a second time on Thursday after being granted bail in a previous case where he was accused of attempting to steal bank documents. The arrest came after Mozumder questioned the Managing Director of the Assam Cooperative Apex Bank Limited about alleged financial irregularities. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that Mozumder is not a "recognized journalist" as the government only recognizes journalists from print and electronic media.
Pradip Gogoi, the vice-chairman of the proscribed United Liberation Front of Asom, was released from Guwahati Central Jail on Thursday after completing an 18-year term behind bars, since his arrest in Kolkata in 1998.The militant leader said the outfit 'in principle' wanted a negotiated and peaceful solution to the 30-year-old 'India-Assam' conflict and expressed hope that the government will show sincerity. He also demanded the unconditional release of all other top leaders.
The Guwahati central jail, where several top leaders of the proscribed outfit United Liberation Front of Asom are currently lodged, has become a venue for its leaders to restart the peace process, albeit with the tacit approval of the government, say their lawyer.According to Bijon Mahajan, lawyer of interned ULFA 'foreign secretary' Sasha Choudhury and 'finance secretary' Chitroban Hazarika, the investigating agency could have asked for further police custody.
Chetia had on Wednesday got bail in the last of the four cases against him paving the way for his release from the jail.
United Liberation Front of Asom's 'foreign Secretary' Sashadhar Choudhury, who was released from the Guwahati Central Jail on bail, on Tuesday expressed hope that talks with the government would be held soon for a peaceful solution to the ULFA-government conflict. Talking to waiting mediapersons outside the jail, Choudhury said the discussions, which would be held soon in a peaceful environment, would ultimately solve the ULFA problem.
United Liberation Front of Asom chief Arabinda Rajkhowa was released from the Guwahati Central Jail, two days after his bail plea was granted by a designated TADA court.
Anup Chetia, who is now lodged at the Guwahati Central Jail, said that he wanted to join the pro-talks faction of the ULFA.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Wednesday called upon the Central government to involve ULFA general secretary Anup Chetia in the on-going peace talks.
Over 100 people have been arrested so far in the crackdown, according to Punjab Police.
United Liberation Front of Asom raised its voice for the first time against Bangladeshi infiltration in Assam and warned that the problem will soon become a major threat to Delhi.
The Fancy Bazaar area is dominated by Hindi-speaking businessmen who have become a target of the banned outfit.
"He is accused of delivering seditious speeches and inciting a particular section of community to indulge in unlawful activities, detrimental to sovereignty and integrity of the nation," the chargesheet said. "In the garb of protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act, he exhorted people of a particular community to block the highways leading to the major cities and resort to 'Chakka Jam', thereby disrupting normal life," it said.
Eight terrorists of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India escaped from the Central Jail in Bhopal on Monday by killing a security guard and scaling the prison wall with the help of bed sheets, following which some officials responsible for jail security have been suspended.
The Central government-appointed interlocutor for facilitating peace talks with the banned United Liberation Front of Assam P C Haldar, the former chief of the Intelligence Bureau, arrived in Guwahati for a three-day visit on Wednesday.
Police have recovered four fire arms including two revolvers and 45 vehicle registration plates from the house of the arrested kingpin of a nationwide car theft racket, Anil Chauhan, at Mirza in Guwahati city on Thursday.
The court had rejected Indrani's plea for interim bail to visit her hometown Guwahati.
Security concerns prompted the authorities to hold a camp court inside the Central jail in Guwahati on Thursday afternoon for production of arrested United Liberation Front of Assam Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Raju Barauh and Rajkhowa's body guard Raja Bora.
The stakes are significant for the BJP in this round as the party had in 2019 won an overwhelming majority of these seats, including all in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, that will go to polls on May 7.
At least eight persons have been killed and 18 injured, including two security personnel, in Manipur's Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts following continuous gunbattle between Kukis and Meiteis over the last 72 hours, officials said on Thursday.
A report sent by the Nagaland government to the Home ministry has said that charges of rape against Syed Sarif Khan, who was lynched by a mob in Dimapur, were not established conclusively and medical reports are still awaited.
Special judge Alokesh Bhattacharya allowed Chetia, alias Golap Baruah, to go on bail by submitting a bail bond of Rs 5 lakh and security of the same amount.
Soniya Yadav, slain policeman Ramashankar Yadav's daughter, reveals to Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore that her father was not supposed to be on duty that fateful night when he was killed in the Bhopal Central Jail.
Earlier, the high court had permitted the NIA to seek framing of charges in the special court against Gogoi and three of his associates in connection with anti-CAA protests and suspected Maoist links.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday conducted searches at the premises of former Narcotics Control Bureau officer Sameer Wankhede after filing an FIR against him and four others for allegedly seeking Rs 25 crore bribe for not framing Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan in the drugs-on-cruise case, officials said.
The immigrants were under detention in Cachar Central Jail in Assam's Silchar district since 2012.
Despite the national capital recording its best air quality on Diwali day in eight years, pollution levels may rise due to low night temperatures and sporadic burning of firecrackers though there is a ban on their manufacture, storage, sale and use within the city.
Chetia was deported to India last week after being jailed in Bangladesh for 18 years.
Labelling the NIA as a 'mere political tool' of the BJP government at the Centre, Gogoi said the judgment will be a landmark for those arrested through the misuse of the two anti-terror laws.
"I am also quitting as member of Legislative Council," Thackeray said in a webcast.
High alert has been sounded across India that five members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India, who had fled from a Madhya Pradesh jail in 2013, are planning to carry out terror strikes on instructions of Pakistan's spy agency Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence.
A yellow-sari daintily clad Indrani was beaming broadly and it seemed like for the first time, for her, Rahul had done something right. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel reports from the Sheena Bora Murder Trial.
As we get used to a long haul of isolation to curb the spread of COVID-19, the police's new avatar in many places is a far cry from that of the high-handed enforcer of law and order.
Vaihayasi Pande Daniel reports from the Sheena Bora murder trial.
Throughout, Mekhail spoke calmly, with hardly an inflection making even the barest attempt to hijack his tone. His tone was so empty it made his narrative all the more touching. And ugly and grey, as the monsoon sky beyond the window.
Seeking cooperation from the public to fight the pandemic, the Union health ministry officials said there was no need to panic. They also said not everyone needs to wear masks and that following social distancing is more important to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
'Who is the right Mekhail? Mekhail I or Mekhail II?'
The Union health ministry said West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh reported a casualty each on Monday, taking the total number of deaths to nine in the country due to COVID-19.