GUWAHATI, August 28: One Army Major and a Dima Halong Daogah (DHD) militant were killed in an encounter at Lodi Kachari under Mahur police station in the North Cachar Hills district today, police sources here said. As the incident occurred in an interior place, the details of the incident were not available here till late evening. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, August 29, 1999)

KOHIMA, August 29: The Nagaland chief minister, SC Jamir, today dismissed as "false and baseless" the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah)'s allegations that he was making attempts to sabotage the ongoing peace process and conspired to kill the outfit's leaders. The NSCN(IM) while owning responsibility of the recent killing of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) general secretary, Dali Mungro in a statement here yesterday alleged that Jamir along with the deceased (Mungro) tried to sabotage the peace process and conspired to kill NSCN(IM) top leaders Isak Swu and T Muivah. Discounting the allegations as "politically motivated", Jamir claimed "it was I who initiated peace effort with late Phizo in 1963 and also recommended to the government of India to extend the ceasefire." The chief minister alleged that it was the NSCN(IM) which had made attempts to kill him (Jamir), his cabinet colleagues and many leaders including gaonburhas (village chiefs) and government servants. Jamir also dismissed the allegation that Mungro had collected crores of rupees and arms from the Union government through him saying "such utterances were unbecoming of those who claimed to champion the cause of the Nagas." (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, August 30, 1999)

KOHIMA, August 30: Security measures have been beefed up in Mokokchung district of Nagaland following clashes between two rival factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) that left at least two people killed and three injured. Official sources said stringent measures were being taken in wake of sporadic clashes and movement of armed cadre of both the factions. Sources said both the factions of NSCN were involved in a gunbattle in Kumlong ward of Mokokchung town, 165 km from here, last evening. (UNI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, August 31, 1999)
KOHIMA, August 31: One civilian was killed to crossfiring when activists of the two factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) were engaged in a gun-battle in the outskirts of Mokokchung town in Mokokchung district today, police said. District officials said the situation was tense following spurt of factional fightings in different parts of the town in the last one week. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, August 29, 1999)

DIBRUGARH, August 31: The busting of the east zone office of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) on Monday morning in the Dibrugarh district by the police, is being termed as the second biggest achievement of the security forces since 1991 when the outfit's 'general headquarters' was stumbled upon deep inside the Lakhipathar forests. The ULFA's political setup consists of three zones, Pub Mandal, Madhya Mandal and Paschim Mandal. These are sub-divided into anchalik parishads. According to superintendent of police, Kanak Chandra Deka, the banned outfit's office could be busted with the chance arrest of its office secretary, Dilip Koch alias Himangshu Dutta, in the city on Sunday afternoon. Once the rebel's identity was established, the police wasted no time in rushing towards Moran Bamunbari, where the ULFA office was located. This was concealed behind a barn in Bamunpukhuri village. In ULFA jargon, the busted office was codenamed 'Usha' and was primarily responsible for maintaining contacts between the outfit's headquarters and the field units in both the political and military wings. Police sources said with the running over of the office, the administration had dealt a crippling blow to the ULFA since the outfit's only communication link in upper Assam had been severed. (Ron Duarah; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 1, 1999)

NEW DELHI, August 31: Threats of fresh bids by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan to infiltrate into the Northeast through the highly porous Indo-Bangla border has sent alarm bells ringing at the Centre with the Intelligence Bureau (IB) sending a flash to all state police forces of the Northeast, highly placed sources told this correspondent here today. The IB flash, which is equivalent to a general alert has sent the ministry of home affairs into a tizzy, even as the Assam government asked the Centre to immediately formulate a definite plan to check the ISI from planting its agents in the region. The state government's urgency was conveyed to the Union government following the arrest of four more ISI agents, all of them Bangladeshi nationals, three days back at Karimganj, the chief minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta told this correspondent. The agents were caught by the state police after they crossed over to India through the Karimganj sector. The four reportedly used the same channel and contacts on both sides of the border, that were used by the first batch of agents, nabbed by the police. The chief minister said the police was interrogating the four to determine the purpose of their visit and whether they were part of the same group that was nabbed earlier. Meanwhile, the IB flash has identified five major Islamic outfits among the 14 operating in Assam as most active ones. The five are Muslim United Liberation Front of Assam (MULFA), Students Islamic Movement of India, Assam Minority Liberation Army, Islamic Liberation Force, Assam, and Islamic Revolutionary Force. (Kalyan Barooah; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 1, 1999)

AGARTALA, August 31-Border Security Force (BSF) jawans arrested a suspected ISI agent from Simna area of West Tripura recently and recovered foreign currencies from him. Police said today that the jawans apprehended one Pradip Kumar Kanu (38) while he was moving suspiciously at Simna close to the border with Bangladesh. Kanu hails from Karimganj in Assam. The BSF jawans recovered from his possession currencies of Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Thailand, besides India, and a sketch of a major bridge. Kanu is suspected to be an agent of the ISI and the ULFA. He was later handed over to State police, the sources said. (UNI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 1, 1999)

NEW DELHI, September 1: The Union government today formally invited banned militant outfit Bodoland Liberation Tiger Force (BLTF) for talks to resolve the Bodo problem through negotiation. This was disclosed by a spokesman of the Union home ministry here today. The spokesman also welcomed the recent announcement of the BLTF to declare a unilaterial ceasefire. (Staff Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 2, 1999)

DIPHU, September 1: The Diphu police arrested the self-styled finance secretary of the Karbi National Volunteer (KNV), Moni Ram Ronghang, from Ronghanggaon near Diphu recently. The police recovered Rs 48,000 in cash and AK-47 ammunition from his possession. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 2, 1999)

NEW DELHI, September 2: The detection of a large number of irregular arms licences in Maharashtra issued by the Nagaland government has alarmed the Centre. The licences were detected by Maharashtra police when they nabbed several notorious gangsters. The ministry of home affairs, at the request of the Cabinet sSecretariat has now decided to launch an inquiry into the case and states all over the country have been alerted against such licences issued in Nagaland, sources said. The Centre first came to know about existence of such irregular licences having all India validity, when Maharashtra, last month, complained that Nagaland government was found to have issued a large number of armed licences without proper verification. At least 54 such licences were detected in Thane district of Maharashtra alone, sources in ministry said. The Cabinet secretariat which first came to know about the seizure by Maharashtra police, later notified the ministry with a request that the matter be seriously investigated. "The arms licences were issued by the additional deputy commissioner, Dimapur and other additional deputy commissioners in Nagaland without proper verification from us. Incidentally, the arms licences issued are valid for all India. We believe that they have no jurisdiction to issue licences," wrote the commissioner of police, Thane. The Centre has now directed the Maharashtra police to look for such licences in other districts as well, sources added. (Staff Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 3, 1999)

GUWAHATI September 3: Troops of the 21 Mountain Division have rescued an abducted Assam government official from a hideout of suspected militants and arrested two captors in Kokrajhar district yesterday, official sources said today. An Army patrol party on a tip-off raided a hidout in Madati village near Runikhata and rescued the official who was in chains. (UNI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 4, 1999)

GUWAHATI, September 3: The leadership of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) is not willing to vacate its camp from Bhutan, but instead has shifted some of its camps from Daifam to other places in the country, highly-placed official sources disclosed today. The sources said that in spite of the Bhutan government's move to drive them out, the outfit refused to abide by the decision leading to a disappointment among the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) officers. The Bhutan government had already held two rounds of discussions with the ULFA and during the talks it agreed to vacate the camps scattered in different parts of the country. "But even after three months, the outfit is yet to vacate the camps and as a result of which RBA has intensified its patrolling along the border areas to contain militancy', they informed. The sources revealed that the chief operations officer of the RBA had already instructed the officials to be vigilant in view of the prevailing situation. "According to the arrested ULFA members, the leadership does not want to vacate from the territory, rather it has asked the districts to send more cadres for armed training," they said, adding that moreover the leadership has deposited funds to the different bank branches extending help to the country's economy. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 4, 1999)

KOHIMA, September 3: At least one National Socialist Council of Nagaland activist was killed and another injured when two rival factions of the guerrilla outfit clashed in Shanator town of Tuensang district on Wednesday official sources said on Thursday. Sources said heavy exchange of fire between the activists of the two NSCN factions continued for half an hour. The warring groups left the place with the arrival of the security personnel. Meanwhile, the situation in Mokokchung, which witnessed sporadic clashes between the two NSCN factions since last week, remained peaceful because of tight security measures, the sources said. In Mokokchung town, at least three people, including a civilian, were killed and four injured in NSCN factional clashes so far. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 4, 1999)

GOLAKGANJ, September 3: Acting on a tip-off, a Golkganj police team apprehended three Muslim United Liberation Front of Assam militants from Nandini village under Golakganj police station on August 29. They were identified as Hamidur Rahman of Talli village, Keshem Ali of Bhelakupa area and Nur Islam of Sendurai village under Golakgaj area. When contacted, the supreintendetn of police of Dhubri, Shiv Prasad Sharma, said after interrogation of the three militants, police busted a gun factory at Gossaigaon on August 30 and seized a huge cache of arms-making material. These include triggers, fuse wire, gun powder, batteries, hunting shoes and incriminating documents. However, no one has been arrested in this connection. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 4, 1999)

GUWAHATI, September 4: The Kokrajhar district additional superintendent of police, Anurag Tankha, had a narrow escape when a powerful bomb planted by suspected militants exploded just ahead of his vehicle this morning. Police said here that the incident occurred when a police team headed by him was proceeding towards Harinaguri on an operation. Two policemen and the driver of the vehicle were injured in the incident. The bomb was planted under a wooden bridge and it exploded just ahead of the Maruti Gypsy in which Tankha was travelling. The driver of the vehicle was injured. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 5, 1999)

GUWAHATI, September 4: Three abducted engineers were rescued by police today following a brief encounter with the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD) militants in North Cachar Hills district. Police said here the engineers of the North East Electrical Power Corporation (NEEPCO) were rescued at Sangbor between Dehangi and Umrangshu. The engineers, identified as H Thapa, A Hajong and H Kalita, were taken away by the ultras from Gobindpur village of the district as they were proceeding towards the NEEPCO construction site at Umrangshu on August 18. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 5, 1999)

TEZPUR, September 4: Three suspected agents of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan were today arrested by the police in Sonitpur district, official sources here said. The suspected ISI agents were picked up from Tumuki Cementery Ground near Bihaguri under Tezpur police station, additional superintendent of police (border), Shyamal Saikia, said. The agents were identified as Abdur Rahman, an Imam from Rupahi of Nagaon district, and his associate Mahib Ali. The two had come to Tumuki cementery ground on August 16 last to organise subversive activities in the region. These agents were helped by one Moinul Haque of Likhakgaon of Bihaguri area who was also arrested. The suspected agents were being interrogated by the police. In a separate incident, a suspected Bangladeshi national was arrested here today. The police indentified him as Kader Ali and was interrogating him. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 5, 1999)

DULIAJAN, September 4: Terrorists struck again deep inside Lakhipathar in the wee hours today. While one bomb was detonated to cut off the water supply mainline to the Digboi Refinery, two persons, including the officer-in-charge of the Digboi police station, died in a landmine explosion at the Jorajan area, inside the massive forest. The two explosions occurred between 3 am and 6 am. It is suspected that the militants intended to sabotage the two crude oil carrying pipelines at the Jorajan area. But their miscalculation on the location of the three pipelines ended up in bursting the pipeline carrying water from the Buri Dehing to the Digboi Refinery. This correspondent saw a four-feet deep crater at the place, caused by the first explosion. Fortunately, the crude lines are intact, as a result of which, the Digboi Refinery functioning will not be affected anyway. The snapped water line has been restored this afternoon.
Soon after receiving a report of an explosion inside Lakhipathar, the OC of Digboi, sub-inspector Dambaru Pathak, and five CRPF personnel rushed to Jorajan to investigate the matter. On the way back to Digboi, the jeep carrying the policemen exploded as the vehicle came under the impact of a landmine explosion, planted earlier by the terrorists. The civilian driver of the jeep, died on the spot, while Pathak and the others were critically injured. Pathak was declared dead on arrival at the Digboi Refinery Hospital, while his PSO and the five CRPF jawans are stated to be struggling for life. (Ron Duarah; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 5, 1999)

GUWAHATI, September 4: The National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) today alleged that the Centre is desperately trying to invent a pretext to abandon the peace process and shift the blame on the NSCN. ''The Centre has come to fear (sic) its incapability to tackle the Naga political issue but at the same time does not want to admit its bankruptcy...and is trying to find a way to abandon the peace process,'' NSCN(I-M)'s top leader, T Muivah, said in a statement faxed to PTI here. He claimed that the Nagas are honourable people and they shall never deceive the Centre. ''In fact, the NSCN is willing to go the extra mile to understand the Centre and even her interests,'' he said. Muivah, however, warned the Centre that it should desist from allegedly concoting false information and spreading mischievous propaganda. He pointed out that the ceasefire was purely between the Centre and the NSCN and not with the 'puppet government' of Nagaland. Muivah further said that the ceasefire naturally 'encompasses all Naga areas and erection of arbitrary geographical limitations is irrelevent'. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 5, 1999)

IMPHAL, September 6: The newly-formed Democratic Revolutionary People's Party, Manipur (DRPP) has asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre to spell out the hidden agenda between the government of India and National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) of the ongoing peace process. The DRPP also strongly objected to the statement of national secretary in charge of the Northeast, PB Acharya, over the geographical boundary of Nagaland. Reacting to a news item carried in a Calcutta-based daily on August 31 that "The NSCN(IM) should define the geographical boundary of Nagalim so that the ongoing ceasefire between the Centre and the outfit could be extended to those areas if required," the DRPP asked the BJP to clarify the matter in time to the public. According to a press statement issued by its general secretary, DRPP criticised the statement of PB Acharya saying that statement of a leader of BJP would only encourage and create serious tension among the different communities of Manipur as the words "geographical boundary of Nagalim" goes against the spirit of the territorial integrity of Manipur in particular and of the Northeast states in general. The people of Manipur will not tolerate any act which goes against the spirit of the unity and integrity of Manipur, it added, saying that people of Manipur has every right to know what transpires between the two since the very peace talk involves interest and aspiration of the people. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 7, 1999)

GUWAHATI, September 7: Miscreants kidnapped PK Das, assistant engineer, New Bongaigaon and SM Dev, permanent way inspector, Fakiragram of Northeast Frontier Railways while they were on routine inspection of Fakiragram-Dhubri section, NFR sources said here today. The sources further said that the miscreants kidnapped them at gunpoint in between Motejhar and Banshbari area in Dhubri district at 1.30 pm. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 8, 1999)

AGARTALA, September 8: Normal life was out of gear as Tripura today observed a dawn-to-dusk bandh to protest against increasing insurgent activities in the State and abduction of 16 government employees by NLFT militants last Monday. The bandh was called by all major political parties, including the ruling Left Front and Opposition Congress. NLFT militants had stormed into the block office at Manu in Dhalai district and kidnapped 16 government officials, including 12 panchayat secretaties, when they were attending a meeting. Earlier in the day, the same outfit ambushed a state-owned bus at Tuichakma. One passenger was killed and two others were seriously injured in the ambush. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 9, 1999)

AGARTALA, September 9: Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters have been pressed into service to intensify counter-insurgency operations to rescue the 17 government officials, kidnapped by NLFT militants on Monday last from Tripura's Dhalai district even as Tripura government today announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh for information leading to the rescue of the abducted officials. Official sources said here today that seven seperate groups of security personnel continued combing operation for the fourth day to locate the government officials. A high-level meeting chaired by state chief secretary, V Tulsidas and attended by director-general of police, KTD Singh, and officers of Army and paramilitary forces discussed the issue of kidnapping of the officials. (Agencies, The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 10, 1999)

KALIABOR, September 9: Bhupen Mahanta, abducted head clerk of Salona Tea Estate, was released on September 5 near Salona Market. He was kidnapped on May 28 last by the suspected the Karbi Anglong Boro militant outfit. He was brought to Salana Market by a car. Mahanta's health so deteriorated in captivity that ultimately he applied to higher authority of the militant force. Accordingly, he was released on medical and humanitarian ground. (Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 10, 1999)

AGARTALA, September 8: A suspected Afghan mujaheedin has been apprehended by security forces at Betcherra of Tripura's Dhalai district, police said on Wednesday. Akbar Khan was apprehended by Assam Rifles during a search in a passenger bus at Betcherra on Tuesday and handed over to police. The man said during interrogations that he hailed from Ispahan in Afghanistan and had entered India through Kashmir six months ago, the police said, adding that Khan had no passport nither any valid travel document with him. Khan said that he had also toured different parts of the country including Delhi, Guwahati and Bihar, the police said. Some documents and a diary containing phone numbers of people in Delhi and Mumbai were seized from him. Khan was later produced before the court which remanded him for 15 days police custody for detailed interrogation, the police added. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 9, 1999)

AGARTALA, September 10: One person, kidnapped along with 16 other government officials in Dhalai district, has returned unharmed with a ransom note from the NLFT insurgents even as three persons were arrested for alleged involvement in the abduction, police said here today. Panchayat secretary Ratan Debnath, kidnapped from the block development office at Manu in Dhalai on September 6, returned yesterday with a note from the ultras demanding huge cash and stopping of security operations as condition for their release. However, the amount of cash demanded was not known, the police said. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 11, 1999)

AGARTALA, September 11: A gun manufacturing factory has been busted and four insurgents of banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) arrested in two separate incidents in Tripura district, police yesterday said, reports PTI. Acting on a tip-off, a police contingent led by sub-divisional police officer Smriti Ranjan Das raided Chinifa, a remote hill top tribal hamlet under Amarpur subdivision of south Triprua district on September 9 and busted a gun factory of the insurgents of NLFT. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 12, 1999)

IMPHAL, September 12: In a series of joint operations by Assam Rifles and Manipur Police, a hideout of the finance wing of People's Liberation Army (PLA) was busted and three persons were arrested, including two women, on September 7. According to a delayed official report, the unified command of the Assam Rifles and police commandos recovered a large quantity of incriminating documents and inciting literature. Video and audio cassettes, maps and some important correspondence with the United Nations were also seized, sources added. Some important files of the underground outfit containing vital information about the government departments, Government employees, and income and expenditure revenue sheets were also recovered from the hideout. The finance wing of the outfit had collected money to the tune of Rs 1.8 crore in May, June and July this year, sources said. The extortion money collected by the outfit was being enjoyed by the underground leaders who were camping in the foreign countries, police alleged. (UNI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati, September 13, 1999)