GUWAHATI, January 31: Army nabbed a notorious arms dealer — Hasan Ali from Ramphali village near Dhamdhama and recovered a Chinese made .22 revolver from his possession yesterday, according to a defence press release. During the operation two of his accomplices Ali Hussain and Rubul Rabha were also arrested, the release added. In a separate incident, army apprehended five militants belonging to the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) near Goreswar in Kamrup district yesterday. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 1, 2000)

GUWAHATI, February 1: Three persons including two tea executives were kidnapped by suspected militants in two separate incident in Assam today. A group of suspected National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) (NSCN-IM) today abducted two executives of Bhuban Valley Tea Estate under Lakhipur police station of Cachar district today. Police sources here informed that the commercial manager of the tea garden SN Pujari and assistant manager Dinesh Chaubey were on their way to division of the estate in a jeep when they were abducted by militants at gunpoint. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 2, 2000)

GUWAHATI, February 1: The chief postmaster general of Assam circle, Zasanga said that law and order remained a major problem which has affected the postal service in various parts in the state. Zasanga said that despite the problem, the department has taken several steps to strengthen the postal service so that common people are not affected. On the performance of Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) scheme, he revealed that the scheme was introduced in the state in 1995 with 2047 policies and during 1999-2000 the figure declined to 1421. ‘The rural people are still not fully aware of the scheme hence the department has taken steps for a better result’, Zasanga said. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 2, 2000)

IMPHAL, February 1: Suspected underground Hmar activists shot dead Janata Dal(United) candidate Songlienthang Songate on Monday night at Molvaiphei in Manipur’s Churachandpur district, official sources said on Tuesday. Songate had filed nomination paper from Tipaimukh Assembly constituency in Churachandpur district for the first phase of Manipur Assembly polls on February 12, sources said. Official reports said that armed miscreants, suspected to be Hmar underground activists belonging to a particular group, abducted Songate from his house at around 9 pm. His body was recovered on Tuesday morning but he is believed to have been killed late on Monday night, sources said and added that a particular Hmar underground group had opposed the candidature of Songate and warned him with dire consequences if he contested the elections. Election to Tipaimukh Assembly segment has been countermanded. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 2, 2000)

GUWAHATI, February 1: The Centre has decided to extend the security related expenditure facility to Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh to combat insurgency, reports UNI. The Union government had also taken a decision to further expand the list of items of expenditure incurred by the state police force eligible for reimbursement which would include 50 per cent of petrol, oil and lubricants costs, cost on village guards, village defence committees and home guards. The modernisation of police force scheme, which had already been enforced in the Northeast states, would now be extended to Sikkim. The total additional reimbursement would be of Rs 40 crore per annum, an official report said. (UNI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 2, 2000)<

AGARTALA, February 1: Usuf Commission, headed by Justice KM Usuf, submitted its report relating to killing of former Tripura health minister Bimal Sinha and his brother by the militants, to the chief minister Manik Sarkar here on Monday night. The commission was constituted by the state government on June 6, 1998 after the killing of Sinha and his younger brother on March 31, 1998 by the militants in Dhalai district. (UNI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 2, 2000)

KOHIMA, February 3: The power ministers of Northeast states have called for adequate deployment of security personnel in the central power undertakings located in the region in view of recent attack by extremists, official sources said here today. The ministers, at the just concluded 47th North Eastern Regional Electricity Board (NEREB) here, resolved to urge the Centre to provide adequate security forces in the central power undertakings in view of reports of killings, extortion and intimidation by extremists on PSU personnel. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 4, 2000)

AGARTALA, February 2: The Tripura government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the mass rape of some women recently by the underground militants in South Tripura district. Official sources said here today that the state government had received a report from Tripura Commission for Women on January 29 regarding their inquiry into allegation of rape and molestation of a few women of minority community at Raiabari under South Tripura district. In the report, the commission had recommended to the state government to set up high-power inquiry committee to probe into the allegation of rape and molestation, the sources added. (UNI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 4, 2000)

GOLAGHAT, February 3: A fear psychosis is prevailing in the sensitive areas of ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, and ‘D’ sectors of the Assam-Nagaland border in Dhansiri and Golaghat subdivisions in Golaghat district, with the Nagas increasing their domination in all the sectors and the neutral force deployed in the border areas doing nothing in favour of the border people for their security. The people are having to spend sleepless nights. Meanwhile, the NSCN’s plan to attack Uriumghat police station, Lefani police battalion camp and Chadalanshu border security camp was unearthed by the CID of Assam police. The Assam police department two was ready to counter the attack. The present SDPO, Dhansiri subdivision has remained absent from his duty for two months. The Nagaland government had already established two sub-divisions on Assam’s soil and thousands of hectares of Land had been encroached upon. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 4, 2000)

GUWAHATI, February 4: The National Liberation Front of Twipra (NLFT) has served extortion notices to several contractors of the Northeast engaged in construction of railway line from Kumarghat to Agartala creating a major problem for the much awaited project, official sources disclosed today. The sources said that militant group operating in the area has reportedly demanded ‘tax’ raging from Rs 1,00,000 to Rs 10,00,000 from the contractors which has delayed in completion of the project. The 119 kms long Kumarghat-Agartala railway project started long time back and M/s Rites was entrusted with conducting survey on 77 kms. M/s Rites had already submitted a survey report to the authorities covering an area of 22 kms from Teliamura to Zirania and remaining portion is expected to be completed by March next. Construction of 42 kms railway line (20 kms from Kumarghat and 22 kms from Agartala side) is going on despite in accessible terrain. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 5, 2000)

TURA, February 4: A series of highway robberies by miscreants have led to a feeling of insecurity among passengers moving on the main National Highway from Guwahati to Tura. The most affected area is the Bajengdoba–Waribok area, which happens to be two border areas of East and West Garo Hills. The Garo Hills police had zeroed in on the robbers on Friday last at their hideout but under the cover of darkness the robbers made good their escape resulting unfortunately in the death of a woman who was caught in the exchange of fire between the police and the robbers. Although the members of the gang had claimed themselves to be cadres of a outfit called Assam Bodo Liberation Front (ABLF), it is now known that they were criminals using the label of militants to make easy money. This particular gang had lately been terrorising the villagers by taking their stock of food, assaulting them and passing obscene remarks to the womenfolk. The villagers have been terrorised by this gang of highway robbers. (Cosmos Sangma; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 5, 2000)

AGARTALA, FEBRUARY 6: Villagers in Tripura helped nab six National Liberation Front of Twipra (NLFT) insurgents and rescued two kidnapped persons, police said. Villagers overpowered a group of militants when they raided Rambhadrapara in South District village with firearms on Saturday. The villagers took into their custody eight militants, and snatched two guns from them. Earlier, the same group had kidnapped three persons from Thearea. The villagers forced them to release two of the kidnapped persons. (PTI; The Indian Express; New Delhi; February 7, 2000)

GUWAHATI, February 6: The prevailing law and order situation in Assam has seriously affected the performance of the Railways in the state, said the chairman of the Railway Board, VK Agarwal. Addressing a press conference here today, he said that the officers and staff of the railways were feeling uncomfortable because of the law and order situation and incidents like the recent abduction of a Railway officer have affected the morale of the Railway employees. He said that activities of the insurgents affected both the development works and passenger movement in the NF Railways. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 7, 2000)

AGARTALA, February 6: In a daring attack on Saturday night, unidentified gunmen attempted to kill subdivisional officer (SDO), Sadar (Agartala) sub-division, in his office complex. The SDO, Sukram Debbarma, was severely injured in the attack while his personal security officer (PSO) Ratan Ghosh was shot dead on the spot. Driver Soumen Laskar also suffered bullet injuries. Both Debbarma and Laskar are reported to out of danger in GB Hospital. The incident took place on Saturday night around 7.15 pm as Debbarma was about to leave for his home. As he was about to get into his Maruti van, three youths wielding small arms appeared in front of them and opened fire. The first shot pierced through PSO Ghosh’s chest and he fell down. The same bullet also hit the driver. Next the gunmen shot at Debbarma. The miscreants also blasted powerful bombs while retreating. No organisation has so far claimed responsibility for the attack but it is suspected that the newly formed Bengali militant organisation United Bengali Liberation Front (UBLF) is behind the attack. Recently, UBLF declared that they would eliminate tribal officers and others who "extend clandestine support to tribal militants to massacre non-tribals" in Tripura. (The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 7, 2000)

SENAPATI, February 7: Army and paramilitary forces have been deployed in four Naga-majority districts of Manipur following Assembly poll boycott call by the banned National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) (NSCN-IM) in the areas, top Army official said. Some Naga overground organisations have also extended support to the boycott demanding a settlement of the Naga political issue, official sources said. "Our responsibility is to provide environmental security and to control overall situation during the February 12 elections in the Naga-majority districts of Tamenglong, Senapati and Chandel," Brig Narender Singh Brar, commander of the 44th Mountain Brigade said. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 8, 2000)

UDALGURI, February 8: The Bodoland Autonomous Council (BAC) deputy chief Nawaz Basumatary was shot at by unidentified gunmen in a stationary shop in the heart of Udalguri town at 5.45 pm today. The BAC leader received minor injuries and was treated in a nearby hospital. The PSO of Basumatary could not retaliate and the miscreants managed to escape. It may be mentioned here that the attack on Basumatary took place just a couple of days before the economic development seminar to be held here on February 10. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 8, 2000)

IMPHAL, February 8: Eleven Armymen were killed in an ambush by armed insurgents at Keimai area in Manipur’s Tamenglong district today. Official sources said underground activists of the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and National socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) attacked an Army patrol at Keimai, about 190 kms west of here, from both sides of the road killing eleven Armymen on the spot. The army returned the fire and the encounter lasted more than one hour, sources said. Casualty, if any, on the side of the underground group was not immediately known. This is the second ambush on Army personnel by UNLF and NSCN(K) in Manipur in the past 17 days. On January 22, activists of the two organisations had attacked an Army convoy of the Kumaon regiment at Nungba area, near today’s spot along NH 53 and killed two Army personnel and injured two others. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 8, 2000)

SILCHAR, February 8— A renewed spate of terrorist activities like kidnapping, extortion and shoot-outs in the eastern part of Cachar district bordering Manipur had created tension in the tea-garden areas. Manager-in-charge Dinesh Choubey and accountant Sagarmoy Pujari of Bhubanvalley tea estate were kidnapped in broad day light recently following an encounter between the 5th Assam Police battalion and suspected militants the previous evening at the crowded Jirighat Bazar. The garden executives, returning from the Chengjur garden, were kidnapped from a place not more than 200 metres from the camp of the battalion. Militants had supposedly taken them towards Jirimukh, police source informed. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 8, 2000)

SHILLONG, February 9: Two more jawans from the Northeastern region have fallen to Pakistani bullets in the ongoing "Operation Meghdoot" in Siachen Glacier on February 6 last, according to delayed official information received here today. Sepoy AP Abbas Lyngwa of 4 Assam Regiment succumbed to enemy bullets on February 6. He had joined the Army on December 24, 1997, on completion of his training at the Assam Regimental Centre, Happy Valley here. He hailed from Upper Shillong. The other martyr was Sepoy Phughi Mumg, hailing from Tirap district in Arunachal Pradesh. (Special Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 10, 2000)

GUWAHATI, February 9: More than 200 members of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) have entered Assam after completing their training in the camps in the neighbouring country Myanmar, police sources said here today. Sources said that the 28 Battalion of the ULFA is now based in Myanmar and the training camps are run in collaboration with the Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). The new recruits of the ULFA are now being trained up in these camps by senior members of both the ULFA and the NSCN (K). Sources revealed that according to information available with the police, senior ULFA men including Jibon Moran, Antu Chaodang and Ramu Mech are in charge of running the camps. Police sources revealed that more than 200 newly trained militants have recently infiltrated into the upper Assam districts like Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, and Golaghat to start their activities in these districts. The militants have already issued extortion notices to a number of tea garden owners and other businessmen to collect funds. But most of the persons, who received the extortion notices preferred to keep things to themselves as the ULFA has threatened them with dire consequences’ if anyone come forward to report to the police or administration. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 10, 2000)

IMPHAL, February 10: – Manipur police will be assisted by the Army and Assam Rifles during first phase of elections in 28 Assembly constituencies next Saturday in maintaining law and order. However, a senior Army officer clarified that services of the Army would be available only for curbing militant activities and armed forces would not be involved in regular election process. The state-level election security committee is holding meetings at regular intervals to review the latest situation. Chief secretary H Jelshyam is personally supervising the arrangements with assistance from director-general of police L Jugeshwor and home commissioner S Kunjabihari. Official sources said that state authorities were in constant touch with the CRPF, the BSF and the Army to ensure free and fair polls in the state. Although official sources were shy to disclose the number of security personnel deployed on election duty, it is learnt that 34 CRPF and 14 BSF battalions would be in action during polling, besides about 20,000 Manipur policemen. Out of 2,001 polling stations in Manipur for February 12 and 22 elections for 60 seats in the state, 449 stations has been identified as hyper-sensitive, official sources said. Another 778 has been classified as sensitive. About 12,000 polling personnel drawn from various government departments will be engaged in the second phase of election. About 700 vehicles both belonging to government and requisitioned from private owners will be used for transportation of polling personnel and materials to various destinations for the first phase of polls. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 11, 2000)

HAFLONG, February 10: Karimganj district in the Barak Valley of the state has become a hotbed of terrorist activities resulting in tension among the people. Various insurgent outfits of the Northeast are using the border district to cross over to Bangladesh where several insurgent training camps are being run by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) at Sylhet and Moulavi Bazar. The people of the district are now feeling insecure about the increasing terrorist activities which have been borne out by several instances in the recent weeks. Apart from using Karimganj as the transit point, the terrorists are also using the district as a safe sanctuary. During the past few months, the security forces have apprehended several ultras, mostly from buses and trucks plying on National Highway 440. On the last Republic Day, men of the Border Security Forces (BSF) challenged a boat with eight people on board on the Kushiara river near Bakarshal village during the late night. The boat was ferrying its passengers to Bangladesh and the BSF had to resort to firing which led to the death of two persons. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 11, 2000)

GUWAHATI, February 11: Bodo Liberation Tiger Force (BLTF) is not a banned organisation now. Both the central as well as the state governments are also actively considering the outfit’s plea for suspension of armed operations against it, said Additional Secretary to the Union ministry of home affairs PD Shenoy here today. He also said that the central government was not for the abrogation of the Bodo Accord. Shenoy, who was addressing a press conference to apprise mediapersons of the recommendations of the second seminar on development of Bodoland Autonomous Council (BAC) areas held yesterday at Udalguri in Darrang district, this morning said that though the BLT was in the list of banned organisations like the ULFA and the NDFB, the term of the notification clamping a ban on its activities was not extended after the expiry of its span of efficacy in October last. Both the Centre and the state are also considering the positive attitude demonstrated by the outfit by suspending its armed operations for reciprocation by a similar treatment, he said. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 12, 2000)

AGARTALA, February 11: Tribal militants of the National Liberation Front of Twipra (NLFT) abducted the son of an executive member of Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) and attacked a police party in different incidents in Tripura on Thursday, police sources said here. Ajit Tripura, son of TTAADC member Gajendra Tripura, had been to his relative’s house at Dhanichat under Manu police station area in Dhalai district from where he was kidnapped, the police said. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 12, 2000)

GUWAHATI, February 12: It is as if the state government is preparing to open another front to combat terrorism. The front is, no doubt, the front of economic development in the rural areas where more than two-thirds of the state’s population live. Considering the latest developments in this particular field, one can safely assume that success in the implementation of the government strategy may prove to be much effective in arresting further recruitment drives of the militant outfits in the rural areas of the state. The strategy includes a scheme to irrigate 7.5 lakh hectare area of fallow land not frequented by flood, within two and half a year’s time by sinking 3.5 lakh shallow tube wells (STWs) with a NABARD loan of Rs. 30 crore. P Verma, commissioner and secretary to the chief minister, was talking to newsmen at Udalguri Circuit House on February 10 after the conclusion of the inaugural session of the second seminar on development of BAC areas. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 13, 2000)

AGARTALA, February 12: The Assam Rifles engaged in counter- insurgency operations in Tripura has unearthed an ISI plan to trigger off blasts in the capital city of Agartala. The ISI plot came to the fore following an arrest of a hardcore National Liberation Front of Twipra (NLFT) militant Uttam Rupini from a strategic location: Raj Bhavan- Assam Rifles complex- circuit house tri-junction in the heart of the city. Rupini entered Agartala from Bangladesh (Akhaura) on Friday and was caught while moving around the area suspiciously at night. The Assam Rifles 26 battalion personnel nabbed Rupini on the basis of their intelligence inputs. Deputy Commandant of 26 battalion, Assam Rifles Lt Col DJ Lahiri said, "We had clear information that ISI was trying to send high explosives to Agartala for blast." "Rupini was sent to Agartala by ISI with a task of gathering information and map of strategic locations and installations," he said. The ISI has also helped in infiltration of four more trained militants with some specific task. "In the gang of four, two are UNLF militants," said Lt Col Lahiri and added, "We had information of their infiltration and searched in Sakuntala road area in the heart of the city." The gang could not be traced but the Assam Rifles sleuths are on their trail. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 13, 2000)

TEZPUR, February 12: At a time when various underground organisations of Assam are joining the national mainstream by laying down arms at various ceremonies organised by the state government, police, Army and paramilitary forces, a group of thirty youths of ULFA’s Agnigarh Anchalik Parishad under the leadership of Benjamine Munda has left for arms training in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, highly placed sources disclosed. Although the intelligence sources have denied it, a senior police official seeking anonymity, while talking to this correspondent, said that the banned ULFA’s Aganigarh Anchalik Parishad which was recognised for its low proficiency, has now started gaining momentum and is recruiting new cadres for the outfit. Sources further said the banned ULFA has established links with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to destabilise the peace and integrity of the region, particularly in Assam and added that even a group of ULFA cadres is undergoing guerrilla training in Myanmar and has linked up with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) Khaplang group. Sources said final negotiations are on to launch a joint operation in the Himalayan kingdom and Bangladesh to flush out ULFA and Bodo militants from these countries and added senior ULFA leaders were not willing to return to Assam as they were leading comfortable lives in Bangkok and England with the extortion money amounting crores. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 13, 2000)

GUWAHATI, February 13: The tea gardens of the Barak Valley districts of the state have become happy hunting grounds for the insurgent outfits and a number of tea executives were kidnapped by insurgents in the last six months. Two tea executives – the assistant manager and the accountant of the Bhuban Valley tea estate under Lakhipur police station are still in the custody of the insurgents. Police sources said here that it is impossible to provide security to all the 100 odd tea gardens in the valley and only a handful of the gardens have posted personnel of the Tea Plantation Security Force in their gardens. Sources revealed that time and again the gardens were requested to take personnel of the Tea Plantation Security Force but the management of the gardens claimed that they did not have the money to do so. Police sources said that the militants belonging to the Dima Halong Daogah (DHD), backed by the Isak-Muivah faction of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) were involved in most of the attacks on the tea executives. However, newly formed Muslim militant outfit, Peoples’ United Liberation Front (PULF), which has close links with the NSCN, as well as other Manipur based insurgent outfits are also quite active in the Barak valley districts. There are reports that the insurgents use the jungles of the valley to sneak into the Northeastern region of the country from the neighbouring country Bangladesh, sources revealed. (R Dutta Choudhury; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 14, 2000)

GUWAHATI, February 14 — An engineer of the Northeast Frontier (NF) Railway, Moloy Barua, who was abducted by some unidentified persons from a railway construction site near Rangjuli last month, returned home safely today. Barua was taken to the Railway Hospital, Maligaon, for ‘treatment’ after he met with the NF Railway General Manager and a few other senior officials. Barua Section Engineer (Construction), was kidnapped on January 29 while he was on duty, inspecting the ongoing work near Rangjuli in the Guwahati-Goalpara Broad Guage line. The officers and staff of NF Railway have expressed pleasure and relief on Barua’s safe return, the sources further stated. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 15, 2000)

GUWAHATI, February 14: The Assam government’s plan to raise a second line of defence after the Border Security Force (BSF) in the Assam-Bangladesh border to effectively check the infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals as well as the agents of the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) has run into rough weather due to the apathetic attitude of the BJP-led central government. The proposal for raising a second line of defence in the border was first mooted by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) in a tripartite meeting on the implementation of the Assam Accord. The AASU was of the view that the second line of defence should be raised with dedicated local youths, who have sense of patriotism to effectively check the infiltration of foreigners into Assam and the state government also accepted the proposal. Official sources admitted that despite the presence of the BSF in the border, some Bangladeshi nations are still sneaking into Assam from Bangladesh and a second line of defence could have effectively check such infiltration. It may be mentioned here that last year the Assam police nabbed a few agents of the Pakistani ISI who sneaked into Assam from Bangladesh through the border in the Barak valley. Sources said that at least two battalions of the second line of defence should be raised to effectively seal the Assam-Bangladesh border but raising of one battalion would cost about Rs 25 crore and under the present circumstances, it would not be possible for the Assam government to spend the money required for the purpose. (R Dutta Choudhury; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 14, 2000)

IMPHAL, February 14: Five members of a marriage party, including the bride, were injured as they came in between a crossfire between the security forces and militants in Imphal East district, official sources said here today. A post of India Reserve Battalion (IRB) was attacked by armed militants at Maphou Dam in Imphal East district yesterday. A marriage party came in between the crossfire and five persons including the bride were injured. The condition of the injured was stated to be serious, the sources added. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 15, 2000)

Nitin Gogoi in Assam
Bad days are here again for the Assam tea industry. After five years of relative lull, various militant groups across the vast state have again begun to target tea-estates located in far-flung areas for extortion. Consider this:
(1) In South Assam's Cachar region for instance, at least six executives have been kidnapped by various insurgent outfits in the past one year. All of them have been released after varying duration of detention and subsequent payment of ransom. (2) In Upper Assam's five tea growing districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sibsagar, Jorhat and Golaghat, the banned United Liberation Front of Asom has again started its "collection" drive.
(3) On the Northern bank of the Brahmaputra, the two Bodo outfits, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland and Bodoland Liberation Tiger Force, have perfected a system of imposing annual "taxes" on various tea companies.
Tea is the backbone of Assam's economy. It contributes over Rs 1 billion a year to the funds-starved Assam government through various taxes. The industry employs nearly 800,000 people directly or indirectly in the tea estates. Additionally, it provides livelihood to several thousand people involved in various support activities like warehousing, transportation, supply and marketing. More importantly, however, economies of several townships in the state revolve around the tea industry that is spread over an area of 230,000 hectares comprising nearly 900 tea estates. Thus tea is inextricably linked with Assam. And yet, the perception among a section of population about the industry with an annual turnover of nearly Rs 40 billion, is full of misgivings and resentment. Before attempting to find reasons for such an opinion, among the Assamese it would be interesting to note the findings of a survey that the tea industry itself had commissioned in the early 1990s.
The broad purpose of the survey was to assess current perceptions of the Assamese towards the tea industry, establish the extent of awareness of the industry's contribution to the state and determine the expectations of the people from the industry in terms of its future contribution. The findings of the survey were interesting to say the least. Although most of the respondents felt proud about the fact that their state was the largest tea growing area in the country, there was a simmering discontent among the people over certain issues such as employment of the locals, the unsympathetic attitude of the estate managers who mostly come in from outside Assam and investment made by planters from their profits. Probably as a result of these perceptions, a majority of those interviewed felt that the tea industry in Assam should be nationalised so that the profits could be best utilised for the benefits of the Assamese. The survey also noted that very few people actually believed the tea industry's claim of having reinvested more than one-and-a-half times the profits in the state. The poll also served to highlight the dissatisfaction of the masses over the number of Assamese employed in the tea gardens.
When asked to detail specific contributions made by the tea gardens, most respondents mentioned employment generation followed by revenue/export earnings. Lesser number of people mentioned the tea industry's effort to fund social welfare schemes in the state: building roads and bridges, opening hospitals and developing transport and communication facilities. For the tea industry which had largely remained in a cocoon till the mid-Eighties, the findings of the survey and the changing socio-political environment in the state was like a rude wake-up call. With the emergence of militant groups like the United Liberation Front of Asom and the two Bodo organisations, NDFB and BLT, the tea industry entered a nightmarish battle of nerves that was to last for over a decade from 1988. Several companies paid up money, others like Tata Tea came to an understanding that it will intensify welfare activities for the people around the tea estates in a specific area. The year 1999 was relatively peaceful but in the beginning of this year panic has again set in. In Upper Assam's Golaghat district, for example, guerrillas of the banned ULFA have served extortion notices to more than 20 tea companies in the last 10 days. Disclosing this on Friday, industry sources said a few aggrieved tea companies had approached the police for protection but the response was not encouraging. A tea planter was served a notice to pay Rs 500,000 through a messenger with the warning not to disclose anything to the police. He claimed that at least 20 of the district's 70-odd tea gardens have been served such threats and many tea executives on these gardens are thinking about fleeing the area.
Sources did not rule out the possibility of some tea companies agreeing to pay the ransom to buy peace as they are under tremendous pressure from their executives, who are reluctant to resist any such threat. A photocopy of the demand note revealed that the notices have been signed by the United Liberation Front of Asom central committee member Aroon Deka. The letter, printed in Assamese, bears the warning: "If you approach the administration or reveal anything to others, (our) outfit will not be responsible for any serious consequences." The planter, on condition of anonymity, said, "The most surprising thing for the industrialist was that a few police officers of the district have approached the planters for negotiations on behalf of the rebels. At least in one case, the deal was finalised." "I don't know whether the negotiation took place with genuine ULFA rebels or fake ones, but money was paid to somebody in the presence of the said police officer of the district, who also claims to have cordial relations with ULFA because of his active contribution in the Assam agitation," he said, but refused to disclose the name of the police officer. He said tribal guerrillas of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland are also active in the area bordering Nagaland but this fresh spurt in the United Liberation Front of Asom extortion notices has created panic among the planters. (Nitin Gogoi; Refiff.com; Guwahati; February 15, 2000)

AGARTALA, February 15: A total of 227 persons were killed and 277 others injured in various insurgency-related incidents in Tripura since January 1, 1999 till January 28 this year, chief minister Manik Sarkar told the state Assembly here on Monday. Apart from this, a total of 525 persons were abducted by different militant outfits from different places of the state on different occasions during the period, Sarkar who holds Home portfolio, said, while replying to Rabindra Debbarma of Opposition Tripura Upajati Juba Samity (TUJS). Replying to Shyama Charan Tripura (TUJS), the chief minister further said that total 1,018 persons including 362 tribals were killed while 2001 including 338 tribals had been kidnapped by the militants from April 10, 1993 to December 1999. Tripura has at present 13 battalions of CRPF, four battalions of Assam Rifles, nine battalions of BSF and six battalions of the state-owned Tripura state Rifles to counter insurgency and trans-border crimes, chief minister Manik Sarkar told the Tripura Assembly on Monday. Replying to a question by Rati Mohan Jamatia (TUJS), Sarkar said that this apart, the state has a total of 4,586 state police personnel. The chief minister further said that about 850 insurgents of different outfits were operating in various places of the state using various firearms like SLRs, AK-56, AK-47, M-16, LMGs, revolvers and grenades. Replying to another question, Sarkar said that there are two banned militant outfits – National Liberation Front of Tripura and All Tripura Tiger Force – operating in the state which have a few collaborating groups. A total of 49 militants and 637 collaborators were arrested from January, 1998 to January this year, Sarkar said, adding that a total of 31 insurgents surrendered during the same period. (The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; February 16, 2000)