GUWAHATI, August 21: Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-backed Islamic militant outfits like the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen have set up strong bases in Dhaka to launch their operations in the northeastern region of India, police sources said here. The police came to know about the bases of the Islamic militant outfits in Dhaka following the recent arrest of four ISI agents in Guwahati and more than 20 Harkat-ul-Mujahideen militants from different parts of Assam. According to information gathered by the security forces so far, the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen had established a strong base in a madrassa at Yatrabari in Dhaka. All Harkat-ul-Mujahideen activists who come to Dhaka come in touch with each other in the madrassa and plan out their strategies. The youths taken to Pakistan for training are also first taken to the base, and from there the tickets and other documents are arranged for them to proceed further. The Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and ISI also have strong bases at Rajshahi in Bangladesh. They bring explosives to India through this base. Sources revealed that the explosives recovered recently in a joint raid of the Assam and West Bengal police were also first brought to a religious institution in Rajshahi and from there those were brought to India to carry out subversive activities. After the recent arrests of ISI agents and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen activists, it became clear that the virtually open Assam-Bangladesh border provided safe route for militants to take youths from Assam for training. The youths were taken to Pakistan via Bangladesh in batches for training and they used different routes in the Assam-Bangladesh border for the purpose. One of the frequently used routes was via Karimganj. The ISI men arrested in Guwahati, have also come to the state via the Karimganj border by allegedly paying bribe to Border Security Force (BSF) personnel posted there. Some youths were taken to Bangladesh through West Bengal and some through the border in Dhubri district. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 22, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 21: A special convention of the Assam state Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind today condemned the subversive activities engineered by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the country and demanded stern action by the government to foil the nefarious design of the agency. The convention alleged that some "communal politicians" had hatched a conspiracy against Muslims in the state taking advantage of the anti-ISI wave in the country. The Jamiat called upon the state government to ensure that no innocent person belonging to the religious minority community was harassed in the name of operation against ISI agents. The convention also demanded immediate removal of the Governor, Lt Gen (Retd) SK Sinha, for his reported statement regarding threat posed to the identity of indigenous people of the state in view of unabated infiltration of Bangladeshis. The convention was of the view that the state Governor's comment had created confusion among the minds of Muslim population in the state which had led to tension. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 22, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 21: Five tea executives have been kidnapped by extremists from different parts of the state since last evening. According to information available here, three executives were kidnapped last evening from the Fatemabad tea estate in Barpeta, while two others were kidnapped from Cachar district. Suspected Bodo extremists kidnapped manager Bimal Das, deputy manager Nabajyoti Phukan and assistant manager Prianka Pujari of the Fatemabad tea estate at gunpoint last evening. A group of unidentified extremists abducted assistant manager Ranjit Banerjee and welfare officer Subir Deb Roy of the Pakhimara tea estate in Cachar district today. The extremists also kidnapped one contractor of the garden, Prabhakar Singh. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 22, 1999)

AGARTALA, August 20: One jawan was killed and another injured when All Tripura Tiger Force insurgents ambushed a Tripura state Rifles (TSR) foot patrol at Paharpur area of South district on Friday, police said. The insurgents, armed with sophisticated weapons, attacked the patrol about 9.30 a.m. killing one of the jawans on the spot and injuring another, Inspector General of Police (law and order) Selim Ali said. The jawans fired in retaliation in which two insurgents might have been killed as villagers saw the ultras carrying two bodies. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 22, 1999)

AGARTALA, August 22: The recent abduction of four Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) leaders by tribal insurgents has opened up another battle front for the church and the Sangh Parivar. But the event has a far reaching consequence in the Northeast where the church has been an important socio-political institution and the RSS gradually gaining ground. The authorities have been trying to say that the abduction of four RSS leaders from a remote area in North Tripura on August 6 was part of abduction menace indulged in by the insurgents. This claim has gained ground since the National Liberation Front of Twipra (NLFT), which claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, did not say a single word against the RSS nor did it utter a word against their activities. The fact that NLFT is a Christian cadre infested organisation and in past it threatened RSS units in hills is mainly responsible for levelling of the charges against Christian missionaries. The outlawed NLFT had placed "an impossible demand" before the state's CPI(M)-led Left Front government for safe release of hostages. The demand - disband paramilitary Tripura State Rifles (TSR) by August 18 last failing which the outfit would, it threatened, award death penalty to the hostages. With the state government's silence over the demand and expiry of the deadline, uncertainty looms large over the fate of the four kidnapped persons. The paramilitary force has failed to track them down so far. Well-wishers of the Sangh Parivar have launched an initiative to establish contact with the rebels and get the hostages released. Significantly the captors neither claimed ransom nor made a contact with concerned quarters as is the practice in other cases. The RSS in Tripura is mainly active in hills through frontal organisation first established in the state in 1979 apparently to resist the conversion of tribals into Christianity. During last two decades it spread over remote parts of the State and launched welfare activities similar to Christian missionaries. The umbrella Tripura Baptist Church Union (TBCU) has been active here since before independence. The TBCU is often blamed for maintaining link with rebels and fanning trouble in ethnically divided state. (HT Correspondent; The Hindustan Times; New Delhi; August 23, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 23: The Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC), the Karbi Students' Association (KSA) and the Dimasa Students' Union (DSU) have alleged that the militant outfits Dima Halam Daogah (DHD), the Karbi National Volunteers (KNV) and the Karbi People's Front (KPF) are trying to merge the proposed autonomous state area comprising the hill districts of Assam with Nagaland. The ASDC, KSA and DSU have also given a call for a 12-hour Karbi Anglong and NC Hills bandh from 5 am of August 30 in protest against the move of the militant outfits. In a joint release here, the ASDC, KSA and DSU asserted that the people of the hill districts would maintain a strict vigil on the integrity of the proposed autonomous state area. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 24, 1999)

SHILLONG, August 23: A high-level meeting of police and civil officials besides nongovernmental organisations will be convened here soon to draw up an action plan to counter the unabated infiltration of Bangladeshis into Meghalaya and activities of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The meeting is being convened by the state deputy chief minister, D D Lapang, in response to a memorandum submitted to him by the Khasi Students' Union (KSU) here today. Quoting a United News of India (UNI) report based on a home ministry survey indicating "on an average 1,000 Bangladeshis cross over to India illegally through its porous boundary every day," the memorandum expressed serious concern over the import of such mass exodus on Meghalaya whose inter-state and international borders are cent per cent porous. "With the ISI stepping up activities, it is only a matter of time that Meghalaya becomes a virtual Bangladeshi territory like Assam and Tripura," the KSU apprehended. Its fears are apparently based on what the survey noted. "Bangladeshis in Assam are in a position to influence the outcome of an election forcing all political parties to maintain a Bangladeshi appeasement policy in the state..." and "...infiltration is going on unabated as a large stretch of Meghalaya and Tripura remain unprotected," the survey said. The KSU President, Paul Lyngdoh, said a KSU delegation led by him held a 30-minute long discussion with Lapang on the twin threat of infiltration and ISI activities in Meghalaya. "The minuscule Khasi people will be wiped out within a short span of time if the influx is not checked," he said and accused the state government with procrastination. He, however, felt that most of the infiltration into the state was taking place through the inter-state border with Assam specially the Guwahati-Shillong Road and not through the international border. A totally ineffective infiltration branch has made the problem worse, he said and alleged the understaffed and ill-equipped branch to merely an "eye-wash". (Special correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 24, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 23: Altogether four persons, including a CRPF deputy commandant, were killed and five persons were injured in five separate incidents in different places of the state during the past 24 hours. Deputy Commandant of 124 CRPF Rishpal Singh and constable Rajkumar Gar, the driver of the Gypsy the deputy commandant and his wife were travelling in, were killed on the spot, when a powerful explosion blew up the vehicle near the Maithang Bridge on the NH 52, about 12 km of Kakopathar police station in Tinsukia District this morning, police sources here said. Three others, including the wife of Rishpal Singh, Surjit Kaur, were injured. Singh and his wife were on their way to Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh from Mohanbari near Dibrugarh when the incident took place. The injured were rushed to the Dibrugarh Assam Medical College Hospital, where doctors say that they were out of danger. The truck, which was following the deputy commandant's vehicle escaped. According to a CRPF jawan who was in the truck, the blast occurred at a lonely place and there was no one in the vicinity at the time of the incident. Meanwhile, suspected militants of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) shot dead a Hindi teacher in the heart of Nalbari town. An NDFB finance secretary was killed in an encounter with security forces at Balamguri under Bongaigaon police station yesterday, said police sources here. One carbine and ten rounds of empty ammunition were recovered from his possession. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 24, 1999)

SILCHAR, August 23: After milking the tea industry of Brahmaputra valley for years, the insurgents have now extended their tentacles to the Surama Valley causing serious panic among the planters here. Incidences of kidnappings, alleged inaction of the district authorities and withdrawal of the Army have shaken the roots of the local tea industry and triggered a major crisis even as its production went down due to bad weather as well as law and order problem. The Surama Valley branch of the Indian Tea Association sent an SOS to the Assam chief minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, for his urgent intervention after one more tea garden manager was kidnapped by militants on Saturday. According to industry sources, most of the tea gardens located along the border with Manipur, Mizoram, North Cachar Hills district and Tripura besides Bangladesh have been affected and the tea estate officials are on the verge of fleeing as National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN)-backed militants are continuously harassing them demanding money and abducting people at their will. Only yesterday Patimara tea estate manager Rajat Banerjee was kidnapped by NSCN-backed militants from his garden. A fortnight ago about ten extremists dressed in Army fatigues abducted Gautam Roy, manager of Chandighat tea estate along with company general manager H Puri. The release of both the officials were secured by paying a huge amount of ransom, a fact the industry people deny, at least officially. On August 4, assistant manager of Baladhan division of Burthol tea estate (Dewan group of tea estates), J Sharma was abducted and returned for a ransom. According to police, the NSCN cadres of Manipur and Nagaland, which became idle following the ceasefire have returned to action in the region, and are finding abduction as a new and easy way of milking money from the industry. The Cachar superintendent of police, Mukesh Agarwala, admitted that these militants have territorial advantage. "Since the area is vast and the terrain hostile, we are unable to plug lots of holes," he said, adding that most of these militants were basically criminals who want to extract money. The tea industry sources informed that the withdrawal of the Army from Jiribam on the Assam-Manipur border has further compounded the problem as the NSCN has got literally an open field to spread terror in the tea belt. "Earlier, we could call them directly but not now the district administration is not at all equipped to handle a problem of such magnitude," said an industry source requesting anonymity. "Keeping in mind the forthcoming Lok Sabha election, we are apprehensive that the situation may get even worse," said the source. The valley has about 40 gardens, all large ones. The big companies which have gardens included Goodricke, Jardins and Octivius Steel. (UNI; The Hindustan Times; New Delhi; August 24, 1999)

GUWAHATI, August 24: The Harkat-ul-Ansar (HUA), a dreaded militant outfit of Kashmir backed by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has intensified its activities along the Indo-Nepal border to destabilise the Northeast and the neighbouring states of the region. According to highly-placed official sources, the security forces have unearthed the "nefarious design" of the militant group following recovery of a letter in which the Mohna unit of the organisation urged the members to create unrest in West Bengal and the Northeast. The official sources further said that the letter which was addressed to one Nazimuddin of Kakarbhita near Dhulabari said that since Siliguri is a vital place for communication to the Northeast, members should concentrate on the area. "In the letter, the self-styled general secretary of the Mohna unit urged the leadership to bring sophisticated weapons for two militant groups of the North-east," the sources said, adding that the secretary, however, did not name the militant groups. They revealed that according to the letter an important meeting was held at Damak Madrassa, located somewhere along the Indo-Nepal border in presence of 20 members of the group where they had decided to go for a Jehad in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and in the Northeast. "With the recovery of the letter the intelligence agencies have been activated to thwart the design of the outfit. Moreover more forces have been deployed," the sources said. After the development a series of operations were carried out in Hasimara and Jerigaon areas of West Bengal, but no one was arrested. Commenting on the Harkat-ul-Ansar shifting its activities along the Indo-Nepal border, they expressed the view that the outfit was controlled by the ISI and now it had intensified its activities in the area. Another important fact is that Nepal is a hot-bed of the ISI and taking advantage of population structure the outfit has become active in the region, they informed. The sources further informed that the ULFA leadership had already held discussions with the militant group to procure arms and ammunition. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 25, 1999)

NEW DELHI, August 24: The Centre is despatching a high-level team to be led by the Union home secretary, Kamal Pande, to the Northeast later this month on a stock-taking mission in the wake of sudden jump in terrorist-related violence and unearthing of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) gameplan to destabilise the region. The home secretary accompanied by top officials from the ministry, besides senior intelligence officials, will arrive at Guwahati on August 27 on a two-day visit, official sources confirmed. This will be the home secretary's maiden visit to the region after he took over two months back. Sources said he will also use his visit to review the situation and access the requirement of the state governments to hold elections. The sudden spurt in killings coupled with arrest of ISI officials and recovery of explosives has sent the alarm bells ringing at the home ministry. The home secretary is scheduled to hold discussions with top state government officials about activities of the ISI and its nexus with underground elements. (Staff correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 25, 1999)

EXTORTIONSGUWAHATI, August 25: Extremist outfits operating in the Barak Valley districts of Assam have launched an extortion drive and begun targeting tea gardens with several garden executives having been abducted in the past few weeks. This month alone four executives of three gardens of Cachar district - Chandighat, Baladhan and Pathimara - have been kidnapped. Though the identity of the extremist group involved is yet to be ascertained, the police suspects that those were joint operations by the militants belonging to the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) and the Dima Halam Daogah (DHD). Police sources in Silchar said the tea executives were kidnapped for ransom as the militant groups operating in the district are facing shortage of funds. They said Cachar district had more than a hundred big and small gardens and it was almost impossible for the police to provide security to all gardens. Sources said the posting of one personal security officer each with every garden manager would not serve any purpose as one personal security officer could not be expected to take on the heavily armed militant groups. Several extremist outfits, some based in neighbouring states, are active in Cachar district and the main aim of most of these outfits is extortion. The outfits active in the district include the NSCN, the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the People's United Liberation Front (PULF). The UNLF and the PLA want that certain portions of Lakhipur area of Cachar district to be merged with Manipur. (Staff reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 26, 1999)

NEW DELHI, August 27: The Union home secretary, Kamal Pande, will visit Guwahati on Saturday to take stock of the prevailing law-and-order situation in the Northeast region in general and Assam in particular, following the spurt in Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) sponsored insurgency in the region. The home secretary, who will be accompanied by the joint secretary (Northeast) GK Pillai, besides senior intelligence agency officials, will preside over a meeting of the Unified Command's strategy group. Top officials of the police and Army are also slated to attend the meeting. A significant aspect of the meeting is that it is likely to chalk out a strategy to check infiltration of ISI agents into the Northeast through the porous Indo-Bangla border. The ministry of home affairs is not happy at the reports on the four ISI agents which indicated that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were bribed to allow them entry through Karimganj sector. (Staff correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; August 28, 1999)