Bodo militants attack which killed 55

[Hindustani78]

New Delhi, July 04, 2017 18:56 IST
Updated: July 04, 2017 19:13 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...d-arunachal/article19210288.ece?homepage=true

The two State governments have been asked for their comments, a senior Home Ministry official said.

The Union government is considering a partial removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and has asked the State governments for their comments, a senior Home Ministry official said on Tuesday.

AFSPA gives powers to the Army and central forces deployed in “disturbed areas” to shoot to kill and arrest any suspect without a warrant. AFSPA came into force in 1958 at the height of the Naga insurgency movement.

It is in force in Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, in some parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir.

“Earlier, the notification for extending AFSPA used to be issued for six months or more. We are trying to reduce the duration to three months and will see if it could be withdrawn completely from certain areas. For the time being, proposal is only for Arunachal Pradesh and Assam,” the official said.

The official said that there was no such proposal for Jammu and Kashmir as of now. Tripura withdrew AFSPA in 2015.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...-produced-before-tn-court/article19233621.ece

When the police produced them in the court, the magistrate remanded them in custody till July 21.

The two National Democratic Front of Bodoland ‘deserters’ who were arrested on Thursday were produced before the Sulur Judicial Magistrate and remanded in Coimbatore Central Prison on Friday.

The Military Intelligence had picked up Upan Basumatarai (41) and Tikkaram Basumatarai (27) while they were returning to their accommodation near workplace in Sithanaickenpalayam, near Sulur. The Sulur police had registered cases under Section 20 read with 38 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.


When the police produced them in the court, Magistrate C. Vediyappan remanded them in custody till July 21.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...ed-in-assam/story-kNxtV2P0qo9w1CTAcwlVHP.html

Naresh Chakma was arrested but his associate Biswajoy Chakma managed to escape. Over 600 cartridges were recovered from the militant.
india Updated: Aug 13, 2017 15:26 IST

The Government Railway Police (GRP) has arrested a Tripura militant in Assam who planned to incite violence ahead of Independence Day and recovered a large quantity of ammunition from him, police said here on Sunday.

“During a routine checking, the GRP personnel arrested the militant identified as Naresh Chakma, 34, at Badarpur railway junction on Saturday. Over 600 cartridges were recovered from the extremist,” a Tripura police official said.

While the police were checking Chakma’s bags, his associate Biswajoy Chakma managed to escape.

“Biswajoy was also carrying some arms and huge ammunition. Both are residents of Natun Bazar village in Gomati district,” the official said, adding that Naresh confessed to the GRP officials that they had planned to incite violence before Independence Day.

However, it is not yet clear if the militants belonged to the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT).

“Naresh also told the GRP interrogators that he along with Biswajoy were staying at a hideout in Comilla (eastern Bangladesh). On August 1, they entered India though the Meghalaya border and went to Dimapur (Nagaland) to purchase the bullets of different sophisticated arms from a Myanmar arms smuggler,” the official said

NLFT cadres undergo arms training in several hideouts in Bangladesh, which shares a 1,880-km border with Tripura (856 km), Meghalaya (443 km), Mizoram (318 km) and Assam (263 km).

Banned in 1997 by the Union Home Ministry, the outlawed outfit had sought Tripura’s secession from India.

 

[Hindustani78]

Chief minister Biren Singh promised that the new government will protect and provide necessary assistance to those who joined the mainstream.
india Updated: Aug 14, 2017 21:42 IST

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...-in-manipur/story-c9j2IHy1tdEoh7h7FO6eLM.html

Sixty-eight militants, including four women, along with a huge cache of assorted weapons such as AK series assault rifles, surrendered here on Monday before Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh.

The militants surrendered at the Home Coming Ceremony in the parade ground of 1st Bn Manipur Rifles.

Biren Singh promised that the new government will protect and provide necessary assistance to those who joined the mainstream. Stating that the newly framed state policy has been sent to the Centre for its approval, the chief minister appealed to those who wanted to join the mainstream to come forward. “Violence cannot solve any problem. Dialogue is the only out.”

Stating that the state needs peace, he said, “Our state will be one of the most developed state considering our talents, natural resources and it’s scenic beauties if we abjure violence and join the mainstream.”

He also assured that a nodal officer will be engaged to look into the grievances of those who joined the mainstream.

Those who joined the mainstream include 23 from Kangleipak Communist Party,17 United National Liberation Front,10 People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak,8 People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (Pro),7 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and 4 Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup, according to DGP Manipur LM Khaute. They deposited some arms and ammunitions including AK 47 rifle, M 16, Lethod bomb and pistols.

(With inputs from PTI)

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/assam-manipur-can-now-decide-on-afspa/article19498849.ece

Home Ministry to give up its power

The Union Home Ministry is set to give up its power to impose the ‘disturbed areas’ tag on Assam and Manipur, both ruled by the BJP. The move effectively means it will be the States’ decision to either continue the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) or revoke it.

As per Section 3 of the AFSPA, it can be invoked in places where “the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary.”

A senior official told The Hindu that it would be the first time since 1990 — when the AFSPA was first invoked in Assam — that the Centre would give up its power to continue or discontinue it.

The AFSPA empowers the Army and Central forces deployed in “disturbed areas” to kill anyone breaking the law and arrest and search any premises without warrant. “...we have decided to rescind the power of invoking the AFSPA in two States for now: Assam and Manipur. The States are competent to decide whether they want to continue with it in entirety or impose it in a few pockets where disturbance is expected,” the official said.

Another official clarified that there was no such proposal for Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier, the Home Ministry used to issue a notification declaring States “disturbed areas” every six months. The duration was later changed to three months, pending a periodic review. On August 4, the Ministry extended the AFSPA in Assam for 27 days.

It is effective in the whole of Nagaland, Assam and Manipur (excluding seven Assembly constituencies of Imphal). In Arunachal Pradesh, it is in force in 16 police station areas and in Tirap, Longding and Changlang districts bordering Assam. Tripura withdrew the AFSPA in 2015. It is not in force in Meghalaya (except in a 20-km area along the border with Assam) and Mizoram.

To justify the continuation of the AFSPA in Assam, the Home Ministry had said in the notification that the security situation in Assam “remained vitiated owing to the belligerent attitude of the underground groups, including the ULFA(I), the NDFB(S), the KLO and the KPLT.”

While 246 insurgency-related incidents were reported in Assam in 2014, the number came down to 11 in 2017 (till March 31). Cases of abduction also declined, with 94 reported in 2014 and nil from January to March this year.

In Manipur, 56 incidents were reported till March this year, while 278, 229 and 233 incidents were reported in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...ate-resumes/story-bBPs8PBR1qsEOuBzItm1xN.html
Bodos are unhappy that despite assurances by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the 2014 elections to address the demand for a separate state, nothing has happened.
india Updated: Aug 28, 2017 18:41 IST
Bodo groups in Assam resumed their stir for the creation of a separate Bodoland state by blocking national highways in the state for 10 hours on Monday.

The blockade from 5am prevented movement of vehicles in several places in eight districts where Bodo people are in majority.

Rail connectivity to Assam and the northeast is already disrupted for over a fortnight now and is expected to continue for some time due to damage to rail tracks by flood waters in West Bengal and Bihar.

Thousands of slogan-shouting protesters with placards saying ”No Bodoland, No Rest” blocked NH-31 at Kajalgaon in Chirang district of lower Assam since Monday morning.

National highway-31, which connects the northeast to the rest of the country, passes through Bodo-dominated areas in lower Assam.

Bodo groups are unhappy that despite assurances by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the 2014 general elections to address the demand for a separate state by carving parts of Assam, nothing has happened.

Prior to last year’s assembly election, the BJP had reiterated its commitment to solving the three-decade-old issue. But nothing concrete apart from some informal talks has taken place.

“This is a historic day as Bodo women have come out for the first time in such large numbers to block highways. We have been forced to do so as the BJP governments at the Centre and in Assam have failed us,” said Pramod Bodo, president of the All Bodo Students’ Union.

The demand for a separate state in areas of lower Assam where indigenous Bodo people, the state’s biggest tribal group, are mostly concentrated has been continuing since the late 1980s.

But it was put on hold in 2014 after the BJP’s promise.

Over three dozen Bodo organisations under banner of the Peoples Joint Action Committee for Bodoland Movement (PJACBM) have decided to intensify their stir if tripartite talks between the Centre, Assam government and Bodo groups aren’t held soon.

Monday’s blockade would be followed by a 12-hour general strike across Assam on September 12 and a mass hunger strike on October 1. Indefinite rail blockade and economic blockade are also being planned.

“The highway blockade by women protesters is a clear message to the Centre and Assam government to start tripartite talks. If that doesn’t happen we will be forced to intensify our agitation,” said Pramod Bodo.

In 2003, the Bodoland Territorial Council comprising four districts was created to protect the rights of indigenous communities. The Bodo Peoples’ Front, which is in power in the autonomous administrative council, is part of the BJP-led coalition in Assam.

Despite creation of the BTC, the demand for a separate state continues.

 

[Hindustani78]

NEW DELHI, September 04, 2017 21:45 IST
Updated: September 04, 2017 21:46 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ed-in-arunachal-encounter/article19621065.ece

One militant of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland Khaplang (NSCN-K) was killed and one Special Forces soldier injured in an encounter in the Longding district of Arunachal Pradesh near the India-Myanmar border on Monday.

As the encounter was underway, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat met Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju. “It was a normal encounter. These operations go on every day. Nothing big about this operation,” General Rawat told the media after the meeting.

The incident came a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Myanmar on his way back from the BRICS summit in China, during which counter-terror cooperation will be on top of the agenda.

Based on specific intelligence, Army Special Forces laid an ambush for the militants. But the weather was very foggy due to which the ambush had to be shifted.

“A chance encounter happened as the ambush was being moved. The encounter began around 7.30 a.m. in the morning near Votnu village. It is well inside our boundary,” a source said.

The injured Special Forces soldier was evacuated, and is reported to be stable.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...along-myanmar-border/articleshow/60369437.cms


GUWAHATI/NEW DELHI: Ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s Myanmar visit, the Army has launched an operation along the Myanmar border areas in Arunachal Pradesh. In Longding district, one cadre of Khaplang faction of NSCN was killed on Sunday and the hideout of the outfit was destroyed.

On condition of anonymity, a senior official in Arunachal government said: “Army has launched operation in the three districts of Longding, Khonsa and Changlang. Militants use these areas as hideouts and safe passage to Myanmar.”

Meanwhile, government sources in Delhi said the Army received specific inputs about the movement of militants in Wakka subdivision of Longding district. Later in the afternoon, Army chief general Bipin Rawat met minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju and minister of state for external affairs VK Singh during which the Army operation was discussed.

However, Rawat later said such encounters occur regularly. “It was a normal operation. They happen every day. There is nothing big about it,” he said.

Militant outfits of northeast India have bases in Myanmar. Khaplang faction of NSCN, the United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent), the Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland and Kamatapur Liberation Organisation have formed a common platform to fight against India. This platform is floated in the lines of erstwhile Indo-Burma Revolutionary Front.

The group has declared itself as United National Liberation Front of WESEA (UNLFW) to unite and liberate the ancestral homes in the western south Asia.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...ofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

NEW DELHI: Army chief General Bipin Rawat today sought to downplay the latest operation by security forces against the NSCN(K) along the Indo-Myanmar border, saying such actions are taken regularly.

"It was a normal encounter. These operations go on everyday. Nothing big about this operation," he told reporters here after a meeting with minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju.

The encounter between the Army troops and the Khaplang faction of the Naga insurgent group NSCN in Longding district of Arunachal Pradesh, along the border with Myanmar, took place just a day before the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Myanmar.

At least one NSCN(K) militant was killed and another injured in the encounter during which a hideout of the outfit was destroyed.

The security forces had launched the operation following specific input about the presence of NSCN(K) rebels near Votnu village in the district. The forces came under heavy fire from the rebels and retaliated, Defence spokesman Colonel Chiranjit Konwer said in Itanagar.

 

[Hindustani78]

The militants were killed during a gunbattle against NSCN-IM members.
india Updated: Sep 12, 2017 19:39 IST
Press Trust of India, Imphal

Militants are active in Manipur and incidents of encounter between groups as well with security forces occur at routine intervals. (Reuters/Representative image)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...-in-manipur/story-kaSuLCgb8KvNXs4LyZJ4JK.html


Five militants of the banned People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were killed in an exchange of fire between NSCN-IM and PLA at Makan in Manipur’s Kamjong district on Tuesday, police said.

The incident took place at about 5.30 am near the Indo-Myanmar international border, 53 km away from Kasom Khullen police station, they said.

Details are awaited.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...efed-up-on-manipur-border/article19672235.ece


IMPHAL, September 12, 2017 21:47 IST
Updated: September 12, 2017 21:47 IST

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh had asked police and district administrations in Tengnoupal and Churachandpur to beef up security to check infiltration of Rohingya Muslims.

These two districts have common border with Myanmar.

S. Ibomcha, Superintendent of Police, Tengnoupal district, said, “Armed police and paramilitary personnel are patrolling the border round the clock. There is no report of any infiltration so far.”

Meanwhile, Muslim organisations in Manipur have been staging demonstrations demanding that India declare refugee status for Rohingya.

An activist Mohammad Jalal said, “What is happening in Myanmar is a human disaster. India should not remain a silent spectator.”

Arjun Telhieba, convener of the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System, also conceded that it was a human tragedy.

 

[Hindustani78]

Informing this, Kohima-based Defence PRO Col Chiranjit Konwer said the gang was involved in threatening local people including traders and vendors and extorting money from them in the Nagaland capital for the past few months.

Written by Samudra Gupta Kashyap | Guwahati | Published:September 18, 2017 6:51 pm

Published:September 18, 2017 6:51 pm

NSCN cadres at a camp in Nagaland. (Express archive photo)

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/7-nscnk-cadres-arrested-in-kohima-nagaland-4849699/

Security forces have busted an extortion racket and apprehended seven persons said to be cadres of the Khaplang faction of the NSCN in Kohima and seized from their possession two pistols and several rounds of live ammunition. Informing this, Kohima-based Defence PRO Col Chiranjit Konwer said the gang was involved in threatening local people including traders and vendors and extorting money from them in the Nagaland capital for the past few months. The group which was apprehended included members of both the military and civil wings of the NSCN(K), he said.

Those apprehended and handed over to the police were identified as self-styled Sergeant Hoshito Ayemi, L Majingmong Thiipori, Linpingthu Pachuri, Bennilo Bukh, Adeo Kiewhuo, Neiktoula Kenguruse and Thejavinuo Theja.

Several incriminating documents included demand notes and challans were also recovered from them, the Defence PRO informed.

In Assam on the other hand, a joint operation carried out by the Army and Assam Police in East Karbi Anglong district led to the arrest of one Lummilen Bey, said to be the self-styled publicity secretary of the Kuki Liberation Front (KLF), a splinter group that has been engaged in extortion in the hill district. Guwahati-based defence PRO Lt Col Suneet Newton said a pistol, some ammunition and some incriminating documents were recovered from his possession.

 

[Hindustani78]

Hindustan Times, Agartala

Journalist Shantanu Bhowmik was allegedly killed in an attack by tribal party cadres in Tripura.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...in-10-areas/story-yBwsTvbmU3gkA8LMi01hPO.html


A journalist was killed on Wednesday and several people were wounded in ongoing clashes between supporters of two rival tribal associations in Mandwai, about 28km from Tripura capital Agartala.

Santanu Bhowmick, a journalist from Dinrat news channel, was hit from behind and abducted when he was covering an agitation and road blockade by the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), superintendent of police Abhijit Saptarshi said.

He was found with serious stab wounds and was rushed to a government hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.

Tripura health minister Badal Chowdhury condemned the killing and information minister Bhanulal Saha visited the hospital.

The police superintendent said the situation at Mandai was tense. Prohibitory orders were imposed and more forces were rushed to contain sporadic violence.

The clashes began when supporters of the Ganamukti Parishad, a tribal wing of the ruling CPM, gathered at a bus stand in Khowai town to travel to Agartala for a rally.

The IPFT workers attacked the rivals with sticks and iron rods and wounded at least 60 of them and damaged at least 15 buses.

The Parishad had called the rally in Mandwai, a tribal-dominated area in West Tripura district, against the IPFT.

The violence spread quickly and more people were wounded. The CPM accused the IPFT of ransacking its offices and torching homes.

“The IPFT triggered the violence … they attempted to mislead the indigenous people by demanding a separate state called Tipraland. But they are gradually losing their grip. To hide their failures, they masterminded the violence,” CPM state secretary Bijan Dhar said.

He also alleged that the BJP and Union ministers were backing the IPFT, which is opposing the country’s longest-running leftist government.

IPFT chief NC Debbarma declined comments.

(with agency inputs)

 

[Hindustani78]

Railway Police Force (RPF) showing 44 kgs of 'Ganja' recovered from a passenger train in Dharmanagar, Tripura. PTI

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...nmar-border/article19761965.ece?homepage=true
NEW DELHI , September 27, 2017 15:11 IST
Updated: September 27, 2017 15:24 IST

Troops inflicted heavy casualties on NSCN(K) cadres, claims Kolkata-based Eastern Army Command

The Indian Army has inflicted heavy casualties on NSCN(K) cadres in an operation close to the Myanmar border, the Kolkata-based Eastern Army Command has said.

In tweets, the Command said the Army suffered no casualties in the operation against the Naga militant group. The firefight started in the early hours of Wednesday, when an Army patrol was moving along the border with Myanmar.

“Own troops retaliated swiftly and brought down heavy retaliatory fire on the insurgents,” the Army said, adding, “it is reiterated that own troops did not cross the international border.”

In June 2015, Indian troops crossed over into Myanmar to carry out a surgical strike against NSCN(K), a few days after 18 Army jawans were killed by the militant group in Chandel district of Manipur.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/635212/heavy-casualties-inflicted-nscnk-during.html

Dipankar Bose/Kalyan Ray, Kolkata/New Delhi, DH News Service, Sep 27 2017, 20:04 IST

While neither the defence ministry nor the Indian Army disclosed the number of ultras killed in the early morning operation in the forests near the Indo-Myanmar border, there are unconfirmed reports of nearly 12 NSCN (K) men being gunned down by the troops.

Indian Army on Wednesday launched a major strike on the Naga insurgents near the Myanmar border, inflicting “heavy casualties” on the rebels in the North East.

While neither the defence ministry nor the Indian Army disclosed the number of ultras killed in the early morning operation in the forests near the Indo-Myanmar border, there are unconfirmed reports of nearly 12 NSCN (K) men being gunned down by the troops.

“A column of Indian Army while operating along the Indo-Myanmar border was fired upon by unidentified insurgents. Our troops reacted swiftly and brought down heavy retaliatory fire on the insurgents. The insurgents then broke contact and fled from the spot,” Kolkata-based Eastern Command of the Indian Army said in an official statement.

“As per inputs, a large number of casualties were suffered by the insurgents. Our troops suffered no casualties during the firefight,” the statement said. The operation in Long Khu near Mon district of Nagaland took place around 4.45 AM.

Indian Army officials in Delhi and Kolkata denied the operation being a surgical strike inside the Myanmar territory.

“Our troops did not cross the international border,” said the eastern command statement.

This is the second major offensive against the NSCN (Khaplang) militants in a month.

On the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Myanmar in the first week of September, there was another Army ambush on the Naga rebels in which at least one was killed and another one was injured.

That operation involving Indian Army Special Forces took place at Wakka in the Longding district of Arunachal Pradesh, near India's border with Myanmar. Indian Army didn't disclose the identity of the unit involved in Wednesday operation.

While gunfight with the insurgents happened for decades in the forested hills and plains of the northeast, the extent confrontation with the Naga militants enhanced since 2015 when the Army is believed to have carried out a surgical strike on the Naga militants inside the Myanmar territory, to avenge the killing of 18 soldiers, who were ambushed at Chandel in Manipur.

Army maintained the operation to take revenge happened near the Indo-Myanmar border and not inside the territory of another country.

A year later, Naga insurgents in August 2016 claimed that Indian army commandos crossed inside Myanmar territory and attacked an NSCN (K) camp – a charge that was denied by the Indian Army, which maintained the operation took place inside the Indian territory.