GUWAHATI, August 8: The United Minorities' Front (UMF) led by HRA Choudhury has condemned the statements made by the general officer commanding of 4 Corps, Lt Gen BS Shekhatkar, suggesting that mosques and madrassas in the state are becoming shelters for agents of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). In an executive meeting today, the UMF passed a resolution condemning the statements and said that it was a well-calculated move by the Army as well as the state government to harass religious minorities, particularly religious leaders, intellectuals, social workers and known political workers on the ground of "links" with the ISI, taking advantage of the sentiment prevailing in the country in the aftermath of the Kargil intrusion. The resolution said that it was evident from the harassment meted out to the members of religious minorities that the Army and the police were firm in their conviction that minorities were pro-Pakistani and fond of resorting to anti-national activities and giving shelter to militants in mosques and madrassas. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 9, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 8: The Assam police achieved a major breakthrough in busting the network of the Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the state and nabbed 31 persons including two ISI officers, two agents of the agency and 27 militants belonging to different Islamic militant outfits. The arrests also exposed the plan of ISI to convert Assam into a separate Islamic country. The chief minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, said the Assam police yesterday arrested four persons - Mohammad Fasih Ullah Hussaini alias Hamid Mehmood, alias Khalid Mehmood of Hyderabad, Sind of Pakistan, Mohammad Javed Wakhar alias Mohammad Musaffa alias Mohammad Mehraj alias Abdul Rahman of Karachi, Pakistan, Maulana Hafiz Mohammad Akram Mallik, alias Musaffar Hussain alias Atabulla alias Bhaijan alias Abdul Awal of Mukam Shahwali village of Jammu and Kashmir and Wari Salim Ahmed alias Abdul Aziz alias Sadat of Mehilki village of Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. He said they were moving in Assam under suspicious circumstances and after keeping them under surveillance for some days, the police arrested them yesterday on charges of waging war against the nation and booked them under Sections 121, 121(A), 153(A) of the IPC, Section 14 of the Foreigners Act and Section 10/13 of the UAP Act. During interrogation, the arrested persons confessed that they were sent to Assam by ISI to carry out certain specific operations in Assam and other parts of the country. Fasih Ullah Hussaini and Javed Wakhar are officers of ISI while the other two are functionaries of the terrorist group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. These persons arrived at Dhaka from Karachi by Pakistan International Airlines flights on different days in the third week of July and met ISI officials based in Dhaka to arrange for despatch of a consignment of explosives to Assam. They then crossed over to Assam through Karimganj. Mahanta said of the explosives consignment, one portion was to be handed over to a local contact man for use by the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. One of the major tasks assigned to them by ISI was to trigger off blasts in the Manali-Leh highway to cut off the supply lines of the Indian Army. During interrogation, it came to light that the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen recruited a number of persons from Assam and the Assam police has managed to arrest a number of them including the chief organiser of the outfit in the state. The Naib Amir of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in India, Maulana Md Fakiruddin alias Akram Master hails from Goalpara district and is now in Pakistan. After the interrogation of the arrested persons, the designs of ISI in Assam also came to light. These include training a large number of Muslim youths from Assam and launch a holy war (jehad) to liberate Assam and establish an Islamic country consisting of Assam and certain other parts of the Northeast, to make use of the ULFA and certain other militant outfits of the area for creating largescale disturbances in Assam including bomb blasts in railway stations, public places, market places, railway tracks; making use of the ULFA to destroy public property like oil installations; launching a two pronged economic warfare by shipping away money collected by underground elements of Assam to Pakistan and by pumping in large number of fake currency notes and to foment communal trouble in the State by inciting innocent and law abiding Muslim citizens. Meanwhile, the director-general of Assam police, PV Sumant, told newspersons that during the interrogations, the arrested ISI agents revealed that a number of militants from Assam had received training in Pakistan at the behest of ISI. They include 200 ULFA cadres, 30 Harkat-ul-Mujahideen activists, about 30 to 40 Laskar-e-Toiba activists, about 30 to 35 from the Harkat-ul-Jehad. He said following the interrogation of the arrested ISI agents, the police managed to arrest 27 other Islamic militants and 16 of them were trained in Pakistan. He revealed that 12 were arrested in Dhubri district, one in Guwahati, one in Nalbari, four in Barpeta, seven on Goalpara and two in Karimganj. He said that the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen had placed the services of 400 activists at the disposal of the Pakistani Army during the Kargil war and some of them were from the state. Describing the arrest of the ISI agents as a "major catch", the DGP said ULFA was now working at the dictates of ISI. The IGP (special branch), N Ramachandran, said the police recovered an identity card from Javed Wakhar that was issued just before he was sent to Assam. He said a notebook recovered from the ISI agents revealed 24 different frequencies of communication used by ISI. The police also showed a video recording of the interrogation of the ISI men. Md Fasih Ullah Hussaini said their mission in Assam was to pave the way for the creation of an independent Islamic country. He revealed the links between ULFA and ISI and said several top leaders of ULFA visited Pakistan and ISI had provided them with passports and weapons. Maulana Hafiz Md Akram Mallik also repeated the same statements and said they were supposed to arrange for a consignment of explosives for the ULFA. The DGP said some other important documents were also recovered but the same were not displayed for the sake of further investigations. He said ISI agents were also wanted by some other security agencies of the country. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 9, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 9: The names of two of the four Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) men nabbed by the city police figure in the list of the most wanted enemies of the nation prepared by the Union government, police sources here said. They said the two -Qari Salim Ahmed of Uttar Pradesh and Maulana Hafiz Md Akram Mallik- were wanted in connection with several bomb blasts in different parts of the country. The other two ISI officers nabbed by the city police are Md Fasih Ullah Hussaini and Md Javed Wakhar, both of Pakistan. Giving details of the events leading to the arrest of the ISI men, police sources said late last month they received information that some ISI men had entered the state and the city police was on the lookout for them. The efforts of the police to nab them yielded results as three of them were nabbed when they tried to exchange US Dollars at the ANZ Grindlays Bank in the city. Sources said the day when the ISI men tried to do this, the superintendent of police was tipped off. He sent a team headed by the deputy superintendent of police of Panbazar division, Debendra Deka, to the Dighalipukhuripar area where they nabbed three of the ISI men. The fourth was picked up from a hotel in the city. At first, the ISI men claimed that they were from Delhi but their attempt to mislead the police was foiled when they failed to give proper replies to questions on different localities of Delhi. Later, they opened up and their revelations led to the arrests of 27 Islamic militants from different parts of the state. Of the arrested, 16 had received training in Pakistan, police sources said. The ISI men were well-connected with international organisations and immediately after they were picked up, some organisations moved the UN Human Rights Council alleging that the Indian police was trying to kill two Pakistani nationals. Among other things, the police recovered one sophisticated wrist watch from the possession of the ISI personnel. The watch contained addresses and telephone numbers of 71 different persons and organisations. The addresses were in codes and the Assam police had to take the help of experts from outside to decode the same. The police also recovered an electronic diary, which contained addresses of more than 180 persons and organisations of different countries including Arabian countries, the United States, Pakistan as well as of other parts of the country like Mumbai. This too proved that the ISI men were well-connected. The electronic diary too was sophisticated and the password of the decoder keeps changing on its own. Police sources said ISI was primarily responsible for the supply of explosives to the militants in the state. The police suspects that the RDX recovered from Babul Ingti, an ULFA militant killed recently in the city by the police, was provided by ISI. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 10, 1999)

NEW DELHI, August 9: The Arrest of four ISI operatives, including the totally blind Qari Salim of Muzaffarnagar, in Assam yesterday has confirmed the hand of Pakistan in the spate of railway explosions in the State over the weekend and the latest one early today near Kokrajhar in which five people were injured. According to sources, the banned United Liberation Front of Assam has been used to engineer these blasts. The activities of ULFA on the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) were stepped up as soon as the war in Kargil began. The objective was to hit the movement of Army personnel between the Northeast and the rest of the country and to prevent the transportation of heavy artillery by Railway to the Western Front. The early July blast in New Jalpaiguri station which killed 10 people was a unique operation in that a new kind of bomb, nitrate based, was used for the first time in India. These bombs, unlike RDX based ones, cause more deaths in covered and semi-covered areas. Sources say the intensity of the ULFA's operations this year is viewed with more concern than in usual years when the organisation usually stepped up its activities around Independence Day. The blasts over the weekend seem to point at an objective to disrupt the movement of trains than kill passengers. That is why they concentrated on targeting of railway tracks. Yesterday the Assam police announced the arrest of Qari Salim, two "officers" of the ISI, Mohammed Fasihullah Hussaini and Mohammed Javed Wakhar, and Maulana Hafiz Mohammed Akhram Mallick. All four crossed over to India through Bangladesh after landing there from Pakistan. Incidentally, Qari Salim, who hails from Mahalki village in Muzaffarabad, was one of the founders of the Laskar-e Babri, which is the Uttar Pradesh wing of the Harkat. Intelligence agencies regarded him as one of the most dangerous operatives of the ISI in India. He was working as a religious instructor in Kupwara, Jammu and Kashmir. Salim's blindness and religious commitment made a great impact on youthful militants and he was hired by the ISI to recruit boys from western Uttar Pradesh to the Harkat. His brother, Tasleem, was arrested by Delhi Police, in August 1998 and is lodged in Tihar jail. After that he moved to Assam via Pakistan to step up his recruitment drive. Between 1996 and June 1999, the ULFA is alleged to have engineered seven explosions and 15 sabotages in Assam in which 43 people have been killed. The Government's use of the Railway Protection Special Force, eight of whose companies have been deployed in the sensitive Srirampur-Barpeta Road section recently, has not yielded much dividends. (HT correspondent, The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, August 10, 1999)

NEW DELHI, August 9: The Centre today finalised a fresh strategy to counter the ongoing spurt in militant-related violence in Kashmir and the Northeast particularly the Kupwara region in North Kashmir and few select areas in Assam. The nuts and bolts of the strategy are understood to have been cleared for instant implementation at a high-level meeting chaired by Home Minister Lal Krishan Advani at his North Block office here today. The meeting among others was attended by Chief of the Army Staff Gen V P Malik, Director General Rashtriya Rifles, Home Secretary and other senior officials of various intelligence outfits. Home Ministry sources said that even as re-induction of more troops from the army and RR in the disturbed areas is ruled out, the new strategy was geared to achieve the desired results by judicious re-deployment of the forces in some strategically-located pockets. "Besides streamlining the process of intelligence gathering and its subsequent sharing at the various levels, the strategy would also lay greater stress upon close co-ordination amongst the army/RR, para-military forces and the local police outfits," they indicated. The sources attributed the recent rise in militant activities in the troubled regions of the country to what is perceived as "an annual feature in the continuing insurgency and targeted attacks undertaken by the various terrorist organisations 'to do something big' around August 15." However, the fresh counter-insurgency strategy is understood to have been finalised in the backdrop of the new-found linkages of ULFA with some militant organisations operating in Kashmir. While the mastermind of this linkage continues to be Pakistan's ISI, leaders of these organisations are reported to have clinched plans to share cadres and armaments during their interactions in Dhaka and POK. Home Ministry sources said that the seizure of over 16 kgs of RDX following the killing of ULFA militant leader, Babul Ingti on Thursday last, was indicative of ISI's direct involvement in the ongoing violence in Assam. "The RDX recovered is of Pakistani origin given its black colour as against the normal straw-brand texture of such explosive materials," they revealed. According to these sources, the latest arrest of Maulana Hafiz Akram Malik of Kupwara (Kashmir) in Assam along with three other ISI agents leading to the nabbing of 27 militants belonging to Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Al Badr and Harkat-ul-Jihad has added yet another dimension to the machinations of the Pak intelligence outfit's designs to co-ordinate the nefarious activities of the various militant organisations operating in Kashmir, Northeast and Punjab. The sources revealed that the ISI was now making greater use of Indo-Bangladesh border to push in trained militants with assigned missions in Kashmir besides Assam and few other regions of the Northeast. "The new route enables the Pak-trained militants to reach Guwahati through the porous Indo-Bangladesh border and catch a flight to any other destination in India including Srinagar airport in Kashmir," they added. The fresh counter-insurgency strategy is understood to have taken note of all these developments and the efficacy of corrective action both at the levels of the various State Governments and the Centre. (Jay Raina, The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, August 10, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 10: The activities of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Assam is an issue concerning the security of the nation and no political party or organisation should try to give a communal colour to it, according to the advisor of the All-Assam Students' Union (AASU), Samujjal Bhattacharyya. Bhattacharyya pointed out that certain political parties and organisations of the state were trying to give a communal colour to the issue of arrest of four ISI men in the city. He said that AASU would thwart any move to create communal tension in Assam on the issue. Bhattacharyya lauded the Assam police for managing to nab the ISI personnel, but said if immediate steps were not taken to solve the problem of infiltration of foreigners into Assam, the situation in the state would become worse than the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. He alleged that the Congress and the Left parties were primarily responsible for the present situation in the state as these had been supporting the foreigners to create a votebank. He said the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) government too had failed to take a strong and clear-cut stand on the issue of infiltration of foreigners into the state. He pointed out that AASU had been alleging that the Pakistani ISI was involved in uniting Bangladeshi nationals in Assam and the recent arrests of the ISI officers justified the allegation. The arrests also justified the Assam agitation and the report of the state Governor, Lt Gen SK Sinha. The Governor had given a detailed report to the President on the threat posed to the security of the nation by infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals into Assam. Bhattacharyya alleged that the BJP-led government at the Centre had adopted double standards on the infiltration issue. He pointed out that the government had waged a full-scale war to deport a few thousand Pakistani intruders in Kargil but at the same time, it remained silent when lakhs of foreigners from Bangladeshis had intruded into Assam. He also demanded that the President should order Army operations in Assam to drive out foreigners from the state. Reacting to comments of certain political parties after the arrests of the ISI men in the city, Bhattacharyya said that if these persons were citizens of India, they should not be agitated over the arrests of the ISI officers. "The persons who gave confusing statements over the arrests of the ISI men are working more like spokesman of the foreigners," he said. The AASU also reiterated its demand for the implementation of the Assam Accord within a specific time-frame and repeal of the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act to solve the problem of infiltration. He said there was a vast difference in the attitude of indigenous Muslims and Bangladeshis and the indigenous people were totally against communal tension. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 11, 1999)

JORHAT, August 10: A cloak-and-dagger game is on all over Assam. Bitten and embarrassed by the Kargil bug that showed India's intelligence personnel in bad light, the sleuths appear to be waking up to seek revenge against Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). It was once again the Army that issued the wake-up call. On July 31, Major-General B P Bopanna, GoC 21 Mountain Division, made a startling disclosure: Some madrassas (schools) in Assam were helping the growth of separatist forces with the help of ISI. The General was specific: the madrassas engaged in anti-national activity were located in Nalbari and Barpeta districts of lower Assam as also in the southern Barak valley. The Army, he said, had taken a "very serious note" of the matter. This disclosure was challenged. State Irrigation Minister and president of United People's Party of Assam (UPPA) Abdul Muhib Mazumdar said at a Press conference on Aug 3 that "some communal elements are making false propaganda against the madrassas to create fear in the minds of the Muslims on the eve of the elections." He, however, stopped short of naming the General. Mazumdar's political twist to the issue had to be countered. So Lt-General D B Shekatkar, GoC 4 Corps made a slightly diversionary understatement on Aug 5. He said over 100 ISI agents were operating from Assam and they were backed by ULFA and Bodo militants. In the meantime, on Aug 4, State and Central intelligence agencies, which had already taken their cue from Gen Bopanna's statement, had swung into action. At Karimganj in the southern Barak valley, a key point man between ULFA and ISI was arrested. Bilal Ahmad alias Bilal Haji, a close relative of top Jamiat leader Abdul Haq, also acted as a "courier" for passing messages from ULFA leaders Arabinda Rajkhowa and Paresh Barua to ULFA leaders, according to police and intelligence sources. This was followed by the Assam Police arresting four ISI agents on Aug 7. The catch was so important that Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta himself briefed the Press. He asserted that the ISI, in league with the ULFA and other militant outfits, was dreaming of setting up a new Islamic state in the Northeast. The modus operandi was to create ethnic disturbances, siphon off money of the State through extortion, and pump in fake currencies, he added. The Chief Minister also confirmed that the State Government agreed with General Bopanna's stand. He said some of the madrassas were being misused by the ISI for hiring recruits and fomenting religious hatred. That the ISI is determined to "fish in the troubled waters of the Northeast" was further corroborated by the police recovering 11 slabs of RDX - each weighing 300 gm - from a dreaded ULFA militant, Babul Ingti alias Putul Teron. Teron was shot dead in an encounter on Aug 5. Despite successes, the police and intelligence agencies have not been able to stem the tide of violence. The Bodo areas, where there is no habitation for miles on end on either side of railway tracks, bombing has become a regular phenomenon in the last one week. Even if the security agencies succeed for the time being in averting disaster on tracks, the possibility of their periodic recrudescence cannot be guaranteed for a simple reason: The demography of the Northeast has changed in a big way. Whether it is Assam or Nagaland or Mizoram or Manipur or even Arunachal Pradesh, the infiltration from across the border, aided and abetted by terrorist outfits for their own ends, is so massive that in certain areas the local people are already in minority. According to military intelligence sources, there are small towns like Chopra and Islampur on the Siliguri side of the Northeast which are packed with foreigners - Afghans, Pushtos and Iranians. "They have parked themselves at the entry point of the Northeast with the help of Government officials and politicians. We have advised the Bengal Government to take appropriate action, but they have done nothing. The Army cannot do anything on its own," they said. It is pertinent to remember that a train packed with soldiers was blown up at New Jalpaiguri during the open-ended Kargil conflict. MI also apprehends that the pockets on the West Bengal side are actually the body of ISI's growing tentacles in the Northeast. "No nation on earth is as little concerned about the sanctity of its frontiers as we are," rued a source. He warned that the situation could deteriorate in the Northeast, if not handled boldly and imaginatively right now. (M K Shukla, The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, August 11, 1999)

KOKRAJHAR, August 11: The Governor of Assam, Lt Gen (Retd) SK Sinha, today said that a section of the youth of Assam were indulging in inhuman activities like killings under the influence of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The Governor told newspersons here security forces were keeping a close watch on activities of ISI in Assam. He said all Muslims were not sympathetic to ISI. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 12, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 11: A virtually open Assam-Bangladesh border and a favourable demographic pattern along the border areas has encouraged the Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agents to use Assam as a route to enter the country. This fact came to light after the arrest of four important ISI men in the city recently, police sources said. They said during interrogation of the four arrested ISI men - Md Fasih Ullah and Md Javed Wakhar of Pakistan, Maulana Hafiz Md Akram Mallik of Kashmir and Qari Salim Ahmed of Uttar Pradesh - the police came to know that those people came to Dhaka from Pakistan and entered Assam by crossing the Kuchiara river through Karimganj. They paid an amount of Rs 200 each to Border Security Force (BSF) personnel manning the area through one middleman to enter Assam safely. Police sources revealed that among the arrested ISI men, Qari Salim Ahmed came to Assam at least on four or five occasions in the past through the Karimganj border and no security personnel intercepted him at the border. The main aim of the Pakistani nationals during the present trip through Assam was to look out for a safe route to enter the country through Assam. Security along the international border in the western sector has become tight after the war at Kargil, making it almost impossible for the ISI men to sneak in through the original routes. As Qari Salim knew the routes through Assam, the Pakistani nationals came along with him, sources added. The ISI men were also scheduled to proceed to Kashmir from Assam to trigger off blasts on the Manali-Leh highway to cut off supply lines of Indian Army personnel fighting in Kargil. The sources said that Qari Salim Ahmed is one of the most dreaded militants of the militant outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and he took a number of youths in batches to Pakistan for training through the Assam-Bangladesh route currently being used by ISI agents. During interrogation, the police came to know that all the people taken from India to Pakistan by Harkat-ul-Mujahideen were first taken to Karachi. They were imparted training in handling of arms and explosives in the camps located in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. All the ISI men nabbed by the police are experts in handling explosives. Police sources said the arrest of Qari Salim was considered by the government as a prize catch as he was wanted in connection with a series of blasts in Delhi three years back. He was also wanted for a blast in Modinagar in Uttar Pradesh and he was involved in taking a number of youths from different parts of the country to Pakistan for training. After the arrests of the ISI men, the police managed to nab as many as 26 ultras belonging to the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in different parts of the state. The police earlier nabbed a number of militants of Islamic militant outfits but it was for the first time that activists of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen were arrested in the state. The head office of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen is in Karachi and Fazlur Rahman Khalil is the Amir (head) of the outfit. The 'Naib Amir' of the outfit in India is Master Fakruddin alias Akram Master of Goalpara. According to information available with the police, Fakruddin is now in Pakistan. On the basis of the interrogation reports of the arrested ISI men, Nalbari police nabbed a hardcore militant of the Islamic militant outfit Harkat Ul Jehad-Nurul Amin. Police said that Nurul, who was trained in Bangladesh, was involved in the kidnapping of a few foreign tourists in Delhi in 1994. He is now being questioned by security agencies, they said. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 12, 1999)

GUWAHATI, AUGUST 13: With more and more Muslim leaders, both political as well as non-political, expressing dissatisfaction over the arrest of religious leaders on suspicion of having links with the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan, the Assam government has urged them to desist from inciting emotion along communal lines. An Assam government advertisement issued to the local press here today, said ``the state government calls upon all those who claim to be leaders of the Muslim community in the state to desist from any attempt at inciting emotion on communal lines and instead show a fair and unbiased outlook,'' The advertisement comes in reaction to leaders of the United Minorities Front (UMF) faction headed by Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury, the United People's Party of Assam (UPPA) headed by Abdul Muhib Mazumdar, and other groups, which have accused Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta of allegedly accusing the entire Muslim community in the wake of arrest of four ISI operatives. The UMF had, two days ago, alleged that the AGP had joined hands with the BJP to terrorise the religious minorities in the name of taking action against suspected ISI activists in the state. The UPPA too has lambasted Mahanta for making certain remarks against the mosques and madrasa schools for having links with the ISI. However, Mahanta hadn't generalised the mosques and madrasas, and had only stated that some persons associated with such institutions had hobnobbed with ISI suspects, following which, some of them were picked up by the police during the past few days. ``The government likes to make it emphatically clear that for those who are conspiring against the country and its people, religion is of no value. Their only identity is that they are criminals and that they are enemies of the nation,'' the government advertisement said. ``Today, in Assam, a few madrasas are alleged to have been used as shelter by ISI activists. This does not mean that all madrasas in Assam are used for this purpose. It is totally improper to think all people of Muslim community to be involved in ISI activities jut because the arrested ISI men are Muslims,'' it added. The Assam police, it may be recalled, have so far arrested as many as 27 persons from different parts of the state following the arrest of four ISI operatives, of whom two were Pakistani nationals. Of the 27 others who have been picked up from different parts of Assam, 16 are stated to have been to Pakistan on different occasions to receive fundamental as well as arms training in that country. The two Indians, Maulana Hafiz (hailing from Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir) and Quari Salim Ahmed (from Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh) on the other hand are said to be wanted in several bomb blast cases of the country. (Express News Service, The Indian Express, New Delhi, August 14, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 7: The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has announced it will attack police personnel in Assam from today. In a faxed statement, the ULFA publicity secretary, Mithinga Daimary, said its armed members will launch an attack on 108 police personnel, including senior and other officials of different categories, for "hatching conspiracies", continuing anti-people activities and working against the interest of Assam. They would also simultaneously launch action against those persons who were maintaining relationships with the police and the Army and acting as informers. (United News of India; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 8, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 7: A series of bomb explosions in Lower Assam districts rocked the state last night. Passengers of the Guwahati-bound North East Express had a narrow escape when a powerful bomb exploded in the railway track near Bijni in Bongaigaon district, while two transmission towers of the Power Grid Corporation were damaged in a series of explosions near Sarupeta in Barpeta district. A bomb exploded on a railway bridge near Bijni at about 12.45 am last night. A portion of the bridge and about 155 metres of the track were damaged. A security pilot engine, which was on normal patrol duty ahead of the NE Express, was derailed. The driver escaped unhurt. The NE Express was controlled at Bijni station and later taken to New Bongaigaon. The explosion and the damage to the track disrupted the running of trains and several trains scheduled to leave Guwahati this morning were delayed. Transhipment arrangements were made for the passengers of the Up North East Express and the Up Avadh-Assam Express from New Bongaigaon to Guwahati. Railway sources said that the line is likely to be restored later this evening. Another train had a narrow escape in the same area last night. One bomb was recovered from the metre gauge line near the Dulani river bridge near Bijni. It was later defused by Border Security Force (BSF) personnel. This was the second attack on the railways within the last 15 days. A goods train was derailed in an explosion in the Sarupeta area on July 31. Though the identity of the militants involved in the Bijni explosion is yet to be ascertained, National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) militants are said to have been involved. In another major incident, two transmission towers of the Power Grid Corporation were damaged in a series of explosions at Bhalaguri, seven km north-west from Sarupeta town in Barpeta district last night. The bombs were planted in two towers of the 11,000 kv line of the corporation. Four bombs planted in the four posts of one tower exploded last night. Three of the four bombs planted in the other tower exploded. The police later recovered one bomb planted in the fourth post of the tower. It was an improvised explosive device weighing about 750 grams. As the towers were located in a paddy field no one was injured in the incident. The identity of the group involved in the blasts is yet to be ascertained. In yet another incident, two powerful blasts rocked the Bhutanese town of Sandrup Jhonkar near the Assam-Bhutan border. According to information available here, the blasts took place at a hotel. Though two buildings were damaged in the blasts, no one was injured. Several blasts have taken place in the Assam-Bhutan border areas in recent weeks. Two simultaneous blasts took place in the Bhutanese border town early last month, while one person was killed and several others were injured in two blasts in Darangamela area in July 22. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 8, 1999)

NALBARI, August 8: A powerful bomb exploded at the residence of United Liberation Front of Asom's (ULFA) assistant finance secretary Samiran Sarma alias Nitul Kalita at Barama last night. According to the police, the mother of Nitul, Sumitra Kalita, was injured and a portion of the house damaged in the blast. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 9, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 8 - A bridge on National Highway 31 between Athiabari and Patgaon in Kokrajhar district was damaged in an explosion last night. Official sources in Kokrajhar said that a part of the bridge was damaged but light vehicles were still plying over it. The identity of the militants involved in the incident was yet to be ascertained. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 8, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 8: A major rail mishap was averted when alert securitymen foiled a bid by suspected United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) militants to plant a bomb under a rail bridge at Salakati. A three-foot crater was found but the rebels managed to escape with the bomb. (United News of India; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 9, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 9: Train communication between Assam and the rest of the country was disrupted again due to a powerful bomb blast under a bridge in Kokrajhar district early this morning. Night running of trains throughout the state has been temporarily suspended following a series of attacks by militants. North East Frontier Railway sources here said five persons including the driver of a goods train were injured when a powerful bomb exploded under the train on a bridge on the broad gauge line in between Kokrajhar and Salakati Railway stations at 2 am this morning. Sources said that the engine of the goods train carrying sugar to the region was badly damaged. Two other coaches of the train were derailed, while five others capsized in the explosion. The goods train was preceding the Guwahati-bound Rajdhani Express which was controlled at Fakiragram. Though the identity of the militants involved in the blast is yet to be ascertained police suspected the involvement of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB). This was the third attack on the railways in the state within the last 10 days. On July 31, a goods train was derailed in Barpeta District due to a blast and on the night of August 6, the North East Express had a narrow escape after a powerful bomb exploded under the security train preceding it at Bijni in Bongaigaon district. Several trains were cancelled or rescheduled due to the explosion today. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 10, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 10: Rail and road traffic were restored between the north-east and the rest of the country after being suspended for several hours following blasts on the national highway and the railway tracks by different insurgent groups in Assam. A convoy of the 80 CRPF battalion had a providential escape when a powerful improvised explosive device planted by ULFA militants exploded immediately after it passed the place in lower Assam's Nalbari district in the early hours on Tuesday. Two vehicles with about 15 CRPF men were proceeding from Guwahati to Nalbari when they were ambushed at Bilpara, two km away from Ghograpara police station on the national highway (NH-31), official sources said here. The remotely controlled improvised explosive device (IED) planted by ULFA ultras went off immediately after the convoy passed breaking the windshield of one of the vehicles and stopping road traffic. A three-foot deep crater was formed on the highway under the impact of the blast but no one was injured, sources said. Traffic on the highway was resumed after necessary clearance for both heavy and light traffic, the sources said. Police and paramilitary forces launched a massive combing operation around the area but no one was arrested so far. Meanwhile, sources in the Northeast Frontier Railway headquarters at Maligaon said that rail traffic has been restored in the broad gauge section of the railway which was suspended after a goods train was derailed by a powerful blast in the early hours yesterday by suspected NDFB militants between Kokrajhar and Salakati. Reports from Alipurduar in north Bengal said recent blasts by militant groups on railway tracks, culverts and bridges on the railway have created panic among passengers. (PTI, The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, August 11, 1999)

NEW DELHI, August 11: In the face of sudden spurt in violence in Assam, the Centre has chalked out a contingency plan, deciding to redeploy troops and paramilitary forces along railway tracks, highly-placed sources told this correspondent. The decision to intensify security measures in Assam, besides other Northeast states, taken at a high-level meeting was chaired by Union home minister LK Advani and attended among others by the Army chief Gen VP Malik. Sources said the Army and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been asked to move closer to the railway tracks, besides intensifying patrolling of tracks. This is being done in view of the targeting of the tracks by the militants. Night movement of the trains has already been suspended. This was being done as it seemed difficult to secure tracks at night and militants somehow sneaked in to plant bombs. What is significant, however, is that the Centre seems to have finally realised that the troops pull-out in wake of the Kargil crisis was having an adverse affect on counter-insurgency operations in the region particularly Assam and Manipur. The issue figured at the meeting in a big way, and request of the state governments were also considered. Sources said the Centre has decided in principle to raise 15 additional battalions of Assam Rifles, two of which will be raised this year itself, for deployment in those Northeast states from where the Army has been withdrawn. All formalities including clearance from the Union finance ministry has been received for raising the two battalions on a priority basis, the sources said. The rest of the battalions would be raised in two years. The home ministry has cleared the proposal. Indications here were that the two battalions of Assam Rifles being raised this year would be deployed in Manipur, as the Army has decided to pull out the Rangapahar-based 3 Corps from Manipur to Pattan in Baramullah district of Jammu and Kashmir. 3 Corps was involved in counter-insurgency operations in Manipur, Tripura and North Cachar Hill districts of Assam. The corps is being replaced by the director-general of Assam Rifles. Meanwhile, officials at the home ministry is not much perturbed by reports that Northeast-based militants have revived the Indo-Burma Revolutionary Front as they indicated that one of powerful partners, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) faction is likely to break away from it. Sources indicated that the Centre and the NSCN(K) with whom they currently have a ceasefire agreement for three months is likely to sit for formal negotiations in October. (Staff correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 12, 1999)