Two of the three ONGC employees who were abducted allegedly by suspected United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) leaders on April 21, have been rescued.
Two terrorists, one each from the banned United Liberation Front of Asom and Karbi Longri North Cachar Liberation Front (KLNLF) surrendered with arms and ammunition before the Inspector General of the Border Security Force, Prithvi Raj in Shillong on Tuesday.
The pro-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Assam has lauded the on-going process for reconciliation of Naga rebel groups during a visit to the camp of NSCN (khole-Kitovi) in Nagaland.
'Gogoi will be remembered as someone who recovered Assam as a state, as a people and society from the fear of insurgency that had struck the state from the 1980s till 2000.'
A huge crater was created at the site of the ambush and two vehicles -- a jeep and a Shaktiman truck --were completely damaged.
The United Liberation Front of Assam (anti-talks faction) on Wednesday claimed that it has executed its self-styled 'assistant finance secretary and the commander (operation) of eastern command' captain Partha Asom on charges of treason after conducting a trial.
'Most senior Congress leaders in Assam have a secret understanding with the BJP.' 'They are hobnobbing with the chief minister for their self-interest.'
After a series of meetings, Sarma told reporters that BJP's Assam legislature party is likely to meet in Guwahati on Sunday and all questions related to the next government will be answered there.
Gam secured 67,242 votes against Basumatary's 25,101 while the third candidate, Bhaity Richong of the Socialist Unity Centre of India-Communist, got 2,265 votes.
The anti-talks faction of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam on Wednesday denied its involvement in Tuesday evening's bomb blast in Dibrugarh city in Assam. A teenage girl was killed and 17 others were injured in the blast.
The United Liberation Front of Asom has kidnapped the son of a Bharatiya Janata Party leader from Assam and demanded a ransom of Rs. 1 crore.
Pradip Gogoi, arrested on April 8, 1998, is in judicial custody at the central jail in Guwahati, Anup Chetia, who was held in Dhaka on December 21, 1997, is still in detention in Bangladesh. Ideologue Buragohain is now in Tezpur jail, Sonitpur. On December 4, Rajkhowa and Raju Barua were arrested by Border Security Force men.
The saffron party won 60 of the 126 seats, its allies Asom Gana Parishad nine and United Peoples Party (Liberal) six. Congress bagged 29 seats, its partner All India United Democratic Front 16 and Bodo Democratic Front four.
Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma added to the mystery by declaring only that the next CM would be from the BJP, without naming Sarbananda Sonowal, the CM of the outgoing government.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its two Assam allies -- the Asom Gana Parishad and the United People's Party Liberal -- on Wednesday 'almost finalised' their seat-sharing pact for the Assam assembly polls and a formal announcement will be made in a day or two, sources said.
A bandh called by various organisations in protest against the killing of a 14-year-old girl Purnima Rajak in a bomb blast on Tuesday evening, paralysed life in Dibrugarh city as well as the entire district on Thursday.
Assam's new Director General of Police, Khagen Sarma on Friday said that Pakistan's spy agency Inter Services intelligence and other external forces are behind United Liberation Front of Asom (anti-talks) faction leader Paresh Baruah's efforts to form a common force comprising all northeastern insurgent groups to fight Indian security forces
The BJP won both the Rajya Sabha seats from Assam.
In an attack carried out by the armed militants of the ULFA-I a Hindi-speaking businessman and his daughter were killed in the interior Bijulibon area in Assam on Tuesday night.
In a stunning comeback, Hemant Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led alliance on Saturday stormed to power in Jharkhand for a second consecutive term, winning 56 seats in the 81-member assembly, despite an all-out blitz by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance which managed only 24 seats.
The surrender reflects the success of renewed intensive operations by the security forces, claimed the Army.
Ruling parties held sway in most of the 13 states in the assembly byelection results declared on Saturday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies wresting seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan and the Trinamool Congress sweeping West Bengal.
The militant group accused RAW of deliberately linking its name to fundamentalists and communal groups to tarnish its image in front of the international community.
The outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam (Independent) is anguished over the sorry state of Assamese film industry which has been going through a lean phase. The outfits commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah has blamed the situation on the 'overwhelming invasion' (increasing popularity) of Hindi movies.
He said that those who have surrendered and returned to the mainstream are being rehabilitated by both the central and Assam governments and they will participate in the development journey of the state.
Police said militants planted the improvised explosive device in a Yamaha motorcycle in front of Sani temple in Fancy Bazar, which is the biggest business centre in the entire North-East.
A decision on the next chief minister in Assam is yet to be taken though two days have passed since the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance won the assembly election and the state chief of the saffron party said on Tuesday that either incumbent Sarbananda Sonowal or senior minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will head the next government.
A bomb was recovered on Monday from an unclaimed bag in a train just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Assam
A policeman and a hardcore United Liberation Front of Asom - Independent militant were killed on Tuesday in an encounter in Assam's Goalpara district
The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which trained a batch of Assam's United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) militants in 1991-92, considered the rebel group's chief Paresh Baruah a prize catch and did not want to offend him even after he was unwilling to take the agency's commands on conducting operations in the northeastern state, claims a new book.
'The BJP lacks a credible mass leader who matches Mamata Banerjee's popularity.' 'Given the division of votes among Opposition parties, the West Bengal government's dole-giving strategy, and the consolidation of the poor, significant sections of scheduled caste groups and Muslim minorities behind the ruling party, it will be difficult to dislodge the Trinamool from power.'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday arrived in Guwahati for a day-long visit amid tight security arrangement.
The anti-talks faction of the proscribed United Liberation Front of Asom on Thursday flayed the police and security forces of the "colonial Indian government" for "killing four Assamese youth", branding them as Maoists, at Sadiya in Tinsukia district. In a statement issued to the media, the ULFA stated that failure of the Indian democracy to improve the condition of the masses has led to an upsurge of Maoist movement in the country.
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.
Police also seized the country boat that has been used by the ULFA to ferry explosives and arms to Guwahati from Western Assam areas by dodging strict vigil by the police and the army on all land routes leading to the state's capital city.
The anti-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom on Saturday warned of 'armed protest' against the ruling Congress for 'engineering a division in the outfit under the guise of a peace process'.A statement e-mailed to the local media by one Arunoday Dahotia on behalf of the ULFA faction led by commander-in-chief Paresh Barua, said that the ULFA would resort to 'armed protest' against the Congress for indulging in the 'politics of division'.
Militants of the United Liberation Front of Assom killed Ratan Deka, a 52-year-old employee of a college in Guwahati, on Friday night.
'Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh will have to treat these militias for what they are: Criminals armed with deadly weapons. Otherwise, nothing will distinguish the National Democratic Alliance government from the ten-year long perfidy of the UPA in Assam.'
At least one of the critically injured persons was feared to die in hospital later. However, the police was yet to confirm the death.
