North East - Developments & Debate

[Oracle]

Cong blamed for changes in demography
Correspondent
SIVASAGAR, June 20 – BJP State Executive, in its two-day meeting being held in Sivasagar since yesterday, today blamed the Congress for the alarming change in demographic pattern in the State with a sharp rise in Muslim population as against Hindus and indigenous ethnic tribes.
In a resolution adopted in its meeting , BJP claims that there has been 6.34p.c. rise in Muslim population between 1971-2001 whereas there was 7.61 per cent fall in Hindu population during the period due to unabated influx of about 58 lakh Bangladeshi Muslims. The resolution points out that the State Government under Congress turned out to be their saviour and protector and now they are exerting their influence in the State politics.

The BJP state president Ranjit Dutta, in a media conference held in Sivasagar Natya Mandir today, expressed his apprehensions that the results of the ongoing Census operation in the State will expose the fatal consequence of Congress misrule and indifference as there will be a total change of demographic pattern . He said that lakhs of illegal migrants have already included their names in the National Population Register (NPR) in the first phase of the population census work which in a way would entitle them to claim citizenship . The local Muslim population is totally outnumbered now and the results of the ongoing census will show the fatal consequence of Congress misrule and indifference to the foreigners issue.

Out of the 1704 Bangladeshis detected in Sivasagar alone between 2005-2009 , only 7 could be deported. BJP state Committee has demanded that the ongoing census operation in the State should be stopped untill the 1951 NPR is upgraded. BJP also condemned State Government's lack of interest in evicting lakhs of illegal land grabbers in Kaziranga, and other Tribal belt areas . BJP also demanded that all sorts of atrocities on Hindu D voters must be stopped .

In another resolution, BJP demanded State Government must take urgent steps to stop all encroachment on Assam land totaling 86,675,62 hactares by nationals of neighbouring states of Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal, Meghalaya and West Bengal, bring back sense of security to the people of boarder areas and settle disputes as per Survey of India's map.

Dutta said in the press meet that the Tarun Gogoi Government has opened a new department which is known as the Department of Corruption and whoever can do record breaking feat through corruption, is given a hero's status. Mentioning about the Rs 1000 crore scam in North Cachar Hills, BJP Executive Committee termed Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi as the kingpin of the scam and urged upon the CBI to expedite the investigation into the multi-crore-rupees scam.

In another resolution, the BJP called upon the Government to initiate dialogue with all insurgent groups in the State for permanent peace without adopting double standards in its approach and at the same time called upon all groups including ULFA to show sincerity for a dialogue keeping in view the peoples desire . To tackle the endemic flood problem in the State, BJP called upon the State Government to prepare a master plan with suggestions of expert panel from the Centre.

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[Oracle]

Actions against illegal NBFCs in Tripura to continue

Agartala, June 21 (IANS): The crackdown on unauthorised non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) collecting deposits from people in Tripura will continue, the State police said on Sunday.
"At least eight managing directors, directors and branch managers of several NBFIs have so far been arrested in Tripura. Arrest and raids would continue across the state. We have sealed some of the offices of NBFCs too," a police spokesman told reporters here.

A team of officers of the crime investigation department, the finance department and police has been conducting raids since last week in offices of various NBFCs to check on their status and financial transactions.

Earlier this month, the Tripura government had decided to act against NBFCs not recognised by the Reserve Bank of India, the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) or the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Unauthorised NBFCs have mushroomed in the northeastern region in recent years. These organisations take deposits from people promising abnormally high rates of interest. After collecting the money, they close their operations and leave the area.

"A large number of depositors have already lost their hard earned savings," said Finance Minister Badal Choudhury.

"The state government has undertaken an inquiry against the 84 NBFCs functioning in Tripura alone. The government has sought advice from the RBI and the (central) Finance Ministry about the State's possible steps," Choudhury added.

Meanwhile, the main opposition Congress and the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) accused one another of helping these NBFCs. "At least Rs.3,000 crore have been collected by the NBFCs from the people of Tripura in the past few years illegally. The CPI-M led Left Front government has remained silent in this regard," Congress leader Ratan Lal Nath told reporters.

Demanding protection of the depositors and framing necessary laws, he alleged: "Tripura Chief Minister, his ministerial colleagues and senior CPI-M leaders are involved in the NBFCs' business. The joint actions by the police and finance department are only an eye-wash."

"The government should publish the list of illegal NBFCs," Nath said.

The CPI-M strongly refuted the Congress' charges. "Congress leaders for their election fund and their individual gain have been collecting money from illegal and private organisations. To divert people's attention from this illegal act, the Congress leaders are making baseless and unfounded accusation against the CPI-M leaders and ministers," said CPI-M spokesman Gautam Das.

He said: "The Left Front government has been taking legal actions against these unofficial financial bodies and such type of actions would continue."

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[Oracle]

Ex-CEM for CBI probe into NC Hills scam
Staff reporter
GUWAHATI, June 21 – Former Chief Executive Member of NC Hills Autonomous District Council Arun Chandra Haflongbar has made an appeal to the Union Government to authorize the CBI to go into all the cases of misappropriation of public money in the Autonomous District Council, covering all the departments.
In a memorandum to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today, Haflongbar pleaded for steps to punish all the politicians, bureaucrats, contractors and suppliers involved in the multi-crore scam.

He has also pleaded for issuing 'direction' to the State Government to search out the DHD (J) C-in-C Niranjan Hojai, who is absconding since the surrender of the DHD (J) militants.

Besides, he said the Union Government should take urgent measures to resolve the Dimasa tangle by carving a Dimaraji state out of the Dimasa-dominated areas of Assam and Nagaland.

The renaming of the NC Hills district as Dima Hasao is done not in accordance with the demand of the Dimasa organisations, which are for creation of a Dimaraji state instead.

Moreover, the non-Dimasa peoples of the district have also been upset with this move of the State Government to rename the district without any consultation, said Haflongbar.

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[Oracle]

NSCN-K against Muivah's visit to Sumi area
A Correspondent
DIMAPUR, June 21 – While endorsing the decision of Sumi Hoho not to allow NSCN-IM general secretary Th Muivah into Sumi soil, the NSCN-K cautioned that the Naga Army should not be held responsible in the event of any confrontation resulting from his 'forcible entry into Sumi soil'.
Conveying to the Government of India as well as the Nagaland Government that Muivah's proposed visit to Pughoboto area in Sumi region on June 21 would amount to gross violation of the ceasefire ground rules, the NSCN-K in a statement said the ceasefire ground rules clearly do not authorise Muivah to loiter around Nagaland with heavily armed men.

The statement said the Government of India, which provides heavy security to Muivah, must realise that Sumi Hoho does not solicit his visit into Sumi region which is a NSCN-K administered area.

Pointing out that the elders of Pughoboto area have assured in writing to prevent his visit, the statement said the Nagas would agree that it is impossible for Sumis to allow the very person who banned the Sumi Hoho.

The outfit also impressed upon all Naga organisations and civil societies that Muivah's entry into Sumi soil is never for Naga reconciliation process and violation of the Covenant of Reconciliation.

Also, stating that the Sumis have realised the futility of divisive politics nurtured by Muivah for the last 25 years, the release said the decision of the Sumi Hoho not to allow Muivah into Sumi soil is a reminder that every tribe in Nagaland retains its ancestral power and authority derived from the people.

Reminding that Naga people question strangers crossing their territory, the NSCN-K said as per tradition once the visitors are told that they are not welcome, no individual in his right frame of mind would travel any further.

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[Oracle]

BJP moves PM on NC Hills fund scam
Spl correspondent
NEW DELHI, June 22 – The CBI probe into the multi-crore rupee North Cachar Hills scam threatens to snowball into a major controversy, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday seeking Prime Minister's intervention.
Within days of former chief minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta complaining against the move to shield the guilty through political influence, today it was the turn of BJP Lok Sabha members, Ramen Deka to approach the Prime Minister's Office.

The BJP MP has sought directions from the Prime Minister to the CBI to conduct an inquiry into the financial transactions of all departments of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous District Council for last 10 years.

"This will unearth many more things, how militant, politicians, bureaucrats nexus siphoned off the public money meant for development," said Deka in his letter to the Prime Minister.

Urging the Prime Minister to take a stringent view of the scam take action to book the guilty, the Lok Sabha members pointed towards the recent seizures of cash by the CBI from an official of the N C Hills.

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[Oracle]

Renaming NC Hills district may lead to security problem
R Dutta Choudhury
GUWAHATI, June 22 – Though the law and order situation in North Cachar Hills showed tremendous improvement since the militants belonging to DHD (J) surrendered weapons to come forward for talks, renaming the district is turning out to be a major political issue and if not dealt immediately, it can snowball into another law and order problem.
Highly placed security sources told The Assam Tribune that only two civilians were killed in the district so far this year compared to 112 last year, which proved that the situation witnessed marked improvement. But in recent days, the militants belonging to the Kuki and Hmar groups started joining hands and triggered off a number of explosions, which is matter of serious concern.

Sources pointed out that though the blasts were of low intensity and did not cause much damage, there is urgent need to deal with the political controversy over the renaming of the district. Police and security agencies believe that the blasts were triggered not to cause much damage but to prove their existence as most of those blasts took place in front of Government offices where the sign boards were changed following the renaming of the district to Dima Hasao. The Kuki and Hmar militant groups have joined hands to form the Hill Tiger Force to oppose the renaming of the district and police believes that political leaders of non-Dimasa communities are also behind the movement against renaming of the district.

It may be mentioned here that the State Government decided to rename the district following signing of the cease-fire agreement with the DHD(J) and the Government decision is facing stiff opposition from the non-Dimasa communities. Security sources are of the view that the issue should be settled by the Government at the political level by holding talks with the groups opposing renaming of the district before the situation goes out of control.

Sources pointed out that whenever the district faced ethnic clashes, it was very difficult to deal with the situation because of the terrain and it is not possible to provide security to each and every village scattered in the hilly areas. The Government must hold talks with the agitating groups of people to prevent any such incident, sources added.

Security sources admitted that the police and security forces have not yet been able to achieve much success in the operations against the Kuki and Hmar militant groups active in the hill district because of the fact that the militants are not staying in any camps. Most of the members of those militant groups are staying in the villages and it is difficult to launch operations without getting specific tip off as the possibility of the common people raising a hue and cry in case of such operations in villages cannot be ruled out, sources admitted.

Interestingly, the Government does not have exact figures of the population pattern of the district and the security records in this regard are based mostly on the claims of the leaders of different communities. As per security records, the Dimasa population would be around 80,000, Kuki population is around seven to eight thousand, Hmar population will be around 15,000 and the Jemi Naga population would be around 20,000. However, sources admitted that the figures might not be correct as those were prepared on the basis of the claims made by leaders of different communities. Sources admitted that there is need for compiling the exact population records in a district which has a history of ethnic clashes. However, the Government will be in a better position to compile the records of the population pattern after the completion of the ongoing census operations.

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[Oracle]

ULFA extortion drive continues
Staff reporter
GUWAHATI, June 22 – Even as efforts to bring the banned ULFA to the negotiating table are on, the outfit, especially its 709 battalion, continues to serve extortion letters to various persons, ranging from Government officials to businessmen.
If sources in the police department are to be believed the outfit in the last couple of months had served extortion notes to around 20 persons based in and around the city.

This also include businessmen from Fancy Bazar area.

Of these, however, some are yet to lodge formal complaint with the police.

The recent instance where Agriculture department executive engineer Manik Baishya was served a demand note of Rs 50 lakh by the outfit's 709 battalion was not an one-off incident that came to the notice of the police.

"We have come across quite a few such demands served in the name of the outfit and investigations are on to find the genuineness of the extortion notices. At the same time we are keeping a track on the activities of the outfit," said Pradeep Chandra Saloi, Senior Superintendent of Police (City) while talking to this reporter.

He also confirmed that those who have been served the extortion notes also include contractors and businessmen.

Meanwhile, a senior police official, requesting anonymity, informed that the outfit has intensified its extortion drive not only in the city but also outside the city.

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[Oracle]

BSF-BDR talks tomorrow to ease border tension
Raju Das
SHILLONG, June 22 – The Border Security Force (BSF) and the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) would hold a Inspector General-level meeting on Thursday at Tamabil to ease tension on the Indo-Bangla border.
The decision to hold the meeting between the two sides was taken after the BDR opened fire on Indian villagers cultivating land in areas of "adverse possession," on June 15. One woman was injured in the firing.

Both sides have further agreed that till the meeting was held Indian villagers would not venture into areas of adverse possession in Jaintia Hills and East Khasi Hills district, bordering Bangladesh.

Earlier, the BSF had rejected an offer for talks at the battalion commandant level, holding 21 BDR commander, Lt Col Khandaker Zahirul Alam responsible for the June 15 firing.

BSF (Assam-Meghalaya) Frontier chief, RC Saxena had rejected the offer saying: "meetings should be held in a cordial and understanding atmosphere. He (Lt Col Alam) is not having the right frame of mind. So any talks with him wouldn't be meaningful." Instead, BSF had sought a meeting at the sector commandant level.

BSF has repeatedly accused Lt Col Alam of creating unnecessary tension along the international border with his "over enthusiasm," after he took command of the 21 BDR battalion. There were four earlier instances this year when both BSF and BDR exchanged fire after Lt Col Alam took over, heightening tension along the border.

The BDR commander has repeatedly ordered his troops to fire on Indian villagers in areas claimed by Bangladesh, but in "adverse possession of India". There are 11 such areas of "adverse possession" in Meghalaya with several of them being in the Jaintia Hills and East Khasi Hills district bordering Bangladesh.

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[Oracle]

6 NLFT ultras surrender
Correspondent
AGARTALA, June 22 – Six militants of the outlawed National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) surrendered before the BSF at Khasia Mangal in West Tripura district, police said here today.
The surrendered militants were recruited in between 2007 and 2009 and most of them have taken part in more than one encounter with security forces in Dhalai district.

During interrogation, they revealed that the frustration among the lower level of cadres is increasing with every passing day due to difficult living conditions in jungles which is further augmented by the financial hardship faced by them.

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[Oracle]

Muivah reaches Sumi region despite opposition
A Correspondent
DIMAPUR, June 22 – Despite opposition from the apex tribal body of the region – Sumi Hoho and rival faction NSCN-K, the NSCN-IM general secretary Th Muivah yesterday reached Pughoboto under Zunheboto district, the home town of his chairman Isac Chishi Swu.
The NSCN-IM team was welcomed by a mammoth crowd led by the Gaonburas (GBs) of Pughoboto area.

Delivering his message at the public ground, Muivah dwelt on the ongoing political dialogue with the Government of India while also reiterating that the NSCN-IM would not accept any piece meal solution to the decades-old problem.

He reaffirmed that Nagas have their own history and the decision of the Indian Parliament cannot over-ride Naga history while stating that any solution should be honourable and acceptable to both the parties and the Naga people.

He also delved at length on the genesis of Naga national struggle starting from the days of AZ Phizo and events leading to the signing of Shillong Accord vis-à-vis the birth of the NSCN.

He, however, expressed regret that till date the Shillong Accordists have never admitted their fault in signing the Accord and rued that NNC/FGN had destroyed the foundation of the Nagas' aspiration for self determination.

The NSCN-IM supremo, recalling the past, maintained that Sumis have rendered logistic support towards the Naga national fighters in the most difficult times while also voicing a soft corner for the Southern Sumis.

Stating that there is no reason why the Sumis should be sidelined on the Naga political issue, he urged them to understand that reconciliation will follow unification and not otherwise as propounded by the Unification group.

He further appealed to the Southern Sumis to judge between what is right and wrong in the present scenario while stressing on the need for a rational thinking among the people. He also said he had come to the birth place of Isac Chishi Swu to consult and discuss with them on the Naga political issue.

The NSCN-IM general secretary is likely to hold a series of consultations with the public and NGOs of the region during his stay.

On the ban imposed against the Western Sumi Hoho by NSCN-IM since 2008, Muivah conveyed that lifting it would be considered.

Mention may be made here that, Pughoboto is Muivah's fourth destination with 'peace mission'.

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[Oracle]

Ajmal indicates ties with secular parties
Correspondent
HOJAI, June 22 – The State is likely to witness a major political change as the AUDF is expected to get closer with the Congress before the coming State Assembly elections. AUDF president Badruddin Ajmal almost clearly indicated his party's desire for such an understanding while talking to this reporter.
Admitting that his party has differences with the Congress in many respects, he was hopeful of overcoming these hurdles at the appropriate time.

Softening his stand against the Congress, Ajmal said, "In politics there are no permanent friends or foes, for the Assembly election will still one year left; anything can happen and time would be the most deciding factor in this respect."

Stating that like the Congress and the AGP, the AUDF is also a non-communal secular party, Badruddin said that his party expected an alliance with such parties in the days to come. When asked about his preference to either the Congress or the AGP, Ajmal averted or direct answer but said that till the AGP snapped its relations with the BJP, there could be no understanding with the AGP under any circumstances. He also said that his party is a regional one. "I am very much comfortable with my party maintaining its regional character and would have been happy had there been a strong bond with AGP, CPI, CPM , NCP etc as a combined force."

Badruddin admitted the fact that in politics party workers expected a lot and unless they are satisfied, it is very difficult to keep them to the party's fold.

On the question of alliance, Ajmal said "At the national level, the UPA and the earlier NDA Government were the outcome of alliances even with small parties; and that is why alliance has become a national formula."

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[Oracle]

Two NDFB militants killed in Assam

Guwahati, June 23 (IANS): Two tribal militants belonging to the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) were killed on Wednesday and two more arrested in separate incidents in Assam, officials said.
A police spokesperson said that soldiers and a group of five NDFB militants were engaged in a fierce gun battle near Itakhola in Sonitpur district.

The security personnel had received inputs that the rebels were planning to sneak into Tezpur town, about 180 km here. "Based on specific intelligence inputs about the presence of a five member NDFB group of bombers planning to enter Tezpur, an army team launched an operation and killed two of the rebels," a senior police official said. Three of the bombers managed to escape after a nearly hour long gunfight. Weapons and explosives, including two grenades, were recovered from them.

"We had definite reports of the NDFB group planning a strike in Tezpur," the official said.

In another incident, a joint team of police and army soldiers raided a house belonging to the NDFB in the adjoining Dhemaji district and arrested two rebels.

"The two were possibly involved in extortion activities in the area," a police official said.

The NDFB is a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland for the tribal Bodos and the group is accused of triggering the Oct 30, 2008 serial explosions in Assam that killed about 100 people.

NDFB chairman and the mastermind of the serial bombings, Ranjan Daimary, is in police custody after he was handed over to India by Bangladesh in May.

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[Oracle]

Bail plea of NE girl rape accused rejected

New Delhi, June 23 (IANS): The Delhi High Court on Tuesday rejected the bail application of a man accused of raping a girl from the Northeast, trashing his claim that he had consensual sex with the victim.
Justice SN Dhingra rejected the bail application of Dushyant Verma, who allegedly raped the girl on April 18. The rape was confirmed in the victims's medical reports.

Verma in his bail application stated that he never raped her and everything between them was consensual. He said they had a long relationship and produced some phone call records and text messages to support his claim.

"The statement of prosecutrix (girl), SMSs coupled with statement of servants of the accused does not reflect consent of prosecutrix, as claimed. Her travelling in the car of the accused after the incident reflects more of her compulsion than consent," the court said while rejecting the bail plea.

Verma, through his counsel, claimed that if the rape took place then the girl should have approached the police on the day of the incident. But she lodged the complaint two days later, he said.

"Though the girl had visited Max Hospital on the same night but the injuries described by her in her complaint to the police as well as to the doctor of AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) at the time of her examination do not find mention in the prescription of Max Hospital," the counsel for Verma said.

According to the prosecution, the victim was raped when she went to Verma's house to have lunch with him. "The accused has been living in Delhi alone and has been leading a luxurious life because his father was earning enough to meet his extravagances and he enjoyed life in his own manner. There is every possibility of the accused trying to win over or threaten the witnesses," the court observed, stating that delay in lodging of complaint is because the incident seemed to have had a stunning effect on the victim.

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[Oracle]

4 ULFA among 8 ultras held in city
Staff reporter
GUWAHATI, June 26 – City Police tasted major success arresting eight militants, including four ULFA cadres, in the last 24 hours from various parts of the city.
Police also recovered explosives weighing 700 gms, a laptop, a pen drive, 15 SIM cards and five cell phones after it raided a house in Noonmati area acting on a tip-off.

The ULFA cadres have been identified as Tapan Deka, Naba Kumar Das and Bidyut Kalita.

"The trio were deputed in Guwahati by Akash Thapa, the dreaded ULFA leader. They were getting computer training for the outfit," said Longnit Terong, Additional SP (City) while talking to this reporter.

"One of them is also undergoing a course in the Industrial Training Institute.

Though they were not directly involved with extortion drives, the outfit engaged them as informers," he informed.

"We are questioning them and nothing more could be shared at this moment," he stated.

Another ULFA cadre identified as Manas Roy was arrested from Chandmari area.

The other four arrested militants include two cadres of UNLF and as many cadres of Liberation of Achik Elite Force (LAEF), a newly-formed outfit of Garo Hills.

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[Oracle]

CBI raids engineer's residence
Staff reporter
GUWAHATI, June 26 – Officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today conducted raid in the residence of Karuna Saikia, an engineer of the Public Health Engineering Department in the Beltola area of the city in connection with the financial scam in the NC Hills Autonomous Council.
CBI sources said that some documents, papers relating to bank accounts etc were seized from the residence of Saikia, who was earlier posted in NC Hills and is presently under suspension. Saikia is likely to be questioned soon.

Meanwhile, sources said that the CBI today also carried out similar raids in other parts of the State including Haflong.

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[Oracle]

ASDC demands dissolution of Dima Hasao council
Correspondent
HAFLONG, June 26 – The Autonomous State Demand Committee (ASDC), Dima Hasao district committee, has demanded immediate dissolution of Dima Hasao Autonomous Council (DHAC), which was being run without its executive committee for more than five months, led by Samarjit Haflongbar, the Chief Executive Member of the Council.
To justify its demand, the ASDC stated that the DHAC headed by Samarjit Haflongbar has failed on all fronts. More than 6 months of the salaries of employees under "normal sector" have not been paid till date due to which it has caused great hardship to the "normal sector" employees. And the plight of L.P teachers under normal sectors who were working in the rural areas of Dima Hasao district was worse and as a result the condition of education in the primary school have gone from bad to worse. The employees under Town Committee are suffering miserably owing to the non-payment of their salaries for a long time. The Council headed by Haflongbar seemed to have no concern seriously for prompt action in repairing the damaged irrigation canals and in providing the necessary inputs/fuels to the water pump machines installed for irrigation purposes in Dima Hasao district.

Owing to the Council's apathy towards irrigation sector, paddy cultivation based on irrigation canal has been adversely affected particularly in the areas of Kalachand, Langting, Nobdi-Langting and Hajadisa. The PWD roads have been in such a bad shape that the Dima Hasao district was almost cut off from the rest of the country. Besides, the vital roads between Lower Haflong and Boro-Chenam via Jorai Road, between Basabari(Kalachand) and Khepre and between Mahur - Laisong-Hangrum were in a pathetic condition.

Despite the fact that the Govt has released several crores of rupees to Dima Hasao Autonomous Council, there was no concrete achievement of works vis-a-vis the funds utilised so far by the Council. Besides, the government funds sanctioned and released to the Deputy Commissioner of Dima Hasao district such as those of the 12th Finance Commission, Hill Area Development Project (HADP) were misappropriated by the politician-official-engineer-contractor nexus in most cases during the year 2007-2010.

For instance, out of the funds amounting to Rs l0 crore under HADP for construction of Boro-Chenam-Michidui Road, the contractor (who is one of the close associates of the former executive member of the Council) in collusion with the Executive Engineer of the PWD (Road) Haflong Division have misappropriated major amount of the funds released, without executing even 10% actually at the spot in the construction of Boro-Chenam-Michidui Road. Arrangement of false bills, without executing even a small part of the works allotted has been going on unabated not only in the major departments like PWD, PHE, Irrigation, Water Recourses (Flood Control), etc but also in the departments like UDP, Soil Conservation, Fishery, etc. For instance, the funds of the WDPSCA, which were taken up in 10 villages in Langting area and entrusted to one Forest Ranger of Forest Department as working agency, were allegedly misappropriated without executing any works there.

Large-scale corruption and nepotism was prevailing even after Haflongbar assumed his office as CEM of the Council. Out of the release of the fund of all departments amounting to at least Rs 60 crore in March 2010, payments based on false bills (or no execution of work) were made to some contractors.

In the recent payment of an amount of Rs 5 crore under the office of the Executive Engineer, PWD Roads, Mahur Division, the close associates of the CEM of the Council Samarjit Haflongbar seemed to have paid their bills, without properly executing the works allotted in that regard.

Under the circumstances, the Council functioning sans executive committee, prevalence of large-scale corruption, nepotism, misuse of development funds, failure to pay salaries to 'normal sector' employees, non-payment of salaries to the employees of Town Committee and lack of development in Dima Hasao district, the present one-man-Congress-ruled Autonomous Council headed by Haflongbar has no moral right to continue in power, the ASDC said and demanded an immediate dissolution of the DHAC and a fresh election to the DHAC.

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[Oracle]

Students' body hails CBI probe into NC Hills scam
Correspondent
HAFLONG, June 26 – While welcoming the ongoing CBI inquiry into the multi-crore scam in NC Hills, the NC Hills Indigenous Students' Forum has demanded that the inquiry be done since 2001, and that all the politicians, bureaucrats, contractors, suppliers and individuals involved in the scam be arrested immediately, stated a press release issued by the body.
The release stated that Forum was formed to enable the indigenous people of the NC Hills district to live in an atmosphere of political and economic freedom and corruption free society. The Forum was deeply concerned about the ongoing CBI inquiry into the multi-crore scam in the NC Hills District.

The Dimasa Mothers' Association was crying for the release of Jewel Gorlosa and other accused persons who were in custody of the police. The NCHISF argued where was the DMA when Army, CRPF and State police personnel and innocent govt servants and members of the public were gunned down in cold blood. Why didn't they raise their voice when hundreds were killed? Instead, why are they raising their voice for their unconditional release?

The release continued that everyone should be aware of the root cause of the 1000 crore rupee scam. This gigantic amount was siphoned off with understanding between political leaders, govt servants and underground elements. Many top bureaucrats were bound to be involved. Because of this, renaming of NC Hills was done in a hurry. The money for the development of the people was being used for killing and ultimately renaming NC Hills into a tribe specific district Therefore, NCHISF is praying that the CBI should dig deeper so that those involved in selling-off the rights of the indigenous peoples be booked irrespective of their govt and political position.

The employees of the district have been unfortunately made the victims of the scam indirectly by not paying them their salaries by siphoning their budgets to the militants and a few other people. It was earnestly prayed to the authority concerned to kindly arrange the salaries for the State and the Council Employees soon and release their up-to-date salaries. The change of the NC Hills district's name after the dialect of one particular community was the outcome of this multi-crore rupee scam. Therefore, it was earnestly prayed to the authority concerned to bifurcate the NC Hills district into two autonomous districts under the provision of 3(c) 3 of Articles 244(2) & 275(1) of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India.

Unless their prayer was given a due consideration by the authority concerned, the Forum shall be compelled to call a 100-hour or even an indefinite NC Hills bandh in the near future, the press release added.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=jun2710/state07

 

[Oracle]

NC Hills Scam: War of Words Continue

Guwahati, Jun 24 : War of words continued between two Assam top political leaders over Rs 1000 crore scam in North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) and the issue of Rs 400 crore Letter of Credit (LOC) scam.

Two time former Assam chief minister and AGP leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said he is prepared to face a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the LOC scam alleged against him.

"I am not afraid of any CBI probe. The truth will be revealed if the probe be in free and fair", Mahanta told media in Guwahati on Thursday.

Mahanta also reacted to a recent comment by Assam CM Tarun Gogoi that accused him being involved in the multi-crore scandal.

Mahanta claimed that the Rs 400 crore LOC scandal concerning purchase of land by the state veterinary department, had come to light during the Congress led Assam Government by former CM Late Hiteswar Saikia.

"Gogoi did not have the courage to face the truth; the probe clearly showed involvement of Congress leaders in the multi crore scam", Mahanta said.

"When the Rs 1000 crore NCHAC scam rocked Assam, and several organizations including Asom Gana Parisad (AGP), demanded free and fair CBI probe into involvement of seven cabinet ministers of the state government, CM Gogoi tried to protect his cabinet ministers," he said.

Mahanta also demanded a thorough probe into all the Government departments in connection with the NC Hills scam.

Meanwhile state main opposition political party AGP submitted a memorandum to the State Governor demanding a thorough inquiry of the Rs 1000-crore scam in NCHAC of Assam in all departments.

http://www.sinlung.com/2010/06/nc-hills-scam-war-of-words-continue.html

 

[Oracle]

NC Hills Scam: Punish All the Culprits
By JP Rajkhowa

One of the most sensational news of recent times in Assam happens to be the unearthing and seizure of Rs 13.45 crore by the CBI from the residence of one Amjad Hussain, a suspended junior engineer of DRDA and brother-in-law of one of the prime accused in the multi-crore-rupee NC Hills scam, RH Khan, who is a suspended Deputy Director of State Social Welfare Department and was posted in the NC Hills Autonomous Council at the time of his arrest by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

"So huge was the amount seized that the CBI sleuths, divided into 20 teams, had to bring note-counting machines from banks to count the money" (The Sentinel, June 17, 2010).

The report further states that Hussain had fled from police custody at Dhubri police station after his arrest in two criminal cases about two years back and was since notified as an absconder.

While the CBI deserve kudos from one and all not only for recovering an unbelievable amount of cash and for arresting the 'absconding' public servant, the Assam Police equally deserves public condemnation — firstly, for allowing the arrested accused to escape from its custody, and secondly, for failing to rearrest him in two years, which the CBI could do so easily.

It is high time for the top brass in the Assam Police to do some real soul-searching and ensure effective steps to free itself from the clutches of extraneous evil forces and do real policing job for the public.

Following huge public uproar demanding thorough investigation into the NC Hills scam by the CBI and front-page media reports and editorials demanding CBI investigation into the scam detected by the NIA, the Assam Chief Minister initially tried to pass the buck to the opposition-backed autonomous council authorities headed by the disgraced Mohit Hojai, but later stated that the scam could be to the extent of Rs 35 to 40 crore only and that no minister of his government was involved in the scam.

Later, at the instance of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Gogoi referred the scam case to the CBI. Now with the recovery of such huge amount of money from just one official, who is related to RH Khan of the Social Welfare Department, it is clear that many other corrupt officials and politicians of other departments could also be responsible for misappropriating huge amounts of public funds and for also passing on the usual share to militant outfits for anti-national activities.

People expect that the CBI would make all-out efforts to bring all the swindlers to justice and recover all their ill-gotten wealth, no matter what political pressure could be brought on it as had happened in the past.

It is learnt from media reports that the State government had requested the CBI to conduct inquiry into the affairs of only four departments. It is also reported that the CBI has been asked by the State government to inquire into the financial irregularities and corruption committed during the period 2007-09 only, when the autonomous council was headed by the ASDC, with Mohit Hojai as CEM.

During that period, the State government had released a total fund of Rs 60 crore to the council of which Rs 30 crore was necessary only for payment of salaries to the employees.

According to analysts, it is most unlikely that out of the rest of the amount to be spent by all the departments, RH Khan had diverted Rs 14 crore or so for himself, which he kept concealed at the residence of his brother-in-law Amjad Hussain.

It is strongly suspected that the swindling of huge amounts of public funds has been going on over the years, during the terms of previous Congress-led councils too, in collusion with key politicians and officials, and that substantial amounts were also regularly contributed to militant outfits.

In order to ascertain the entire swindled amount and to trace the illegal recipients and bring them to justice, the CBI should move the State government to extend the terms of reference for its inquiry appropriately. In this context, the CBI would do well to look into the report of Prakash Mahanta, published in Asomiya Pratidin (June 17, 2010) for additional clues.

While the CBI has achieved initial success in its investigation into the scam, we should not be euphoric at that. We should await further results of the investigation and arrest of all the culprits involved, whosoever they may be.

The CBI's actual success could be judged from their ability to produce clinching and incontrovertible evidence, both oral as well as documentary, thereby establishing the guilt of the accused persons, leading to conviction by the court of law.

Going by the experience of the nation in high-profile and much-hyped scam cases such as the Hawala case, JMM bribery case and the Bofors gun deal, to name only a few, the public cannot be sure of successful prosecution in the NC Hills scam case(s) too, unless there are reasons to believe that this time the CBI would do its best to bring all the culprits to justice, without bowing to any kind of political pressure or temptation.

I remember that in 2004, at the instance of the Assam Government, the CBI had taken up for investigation the then widely published multi-crore crude oil pilferage case, in which a nexus of oil thieves, ONGC/OIL officials, police officials, transporters and politicians was suspected to be involved in regular swindling of the public wealth.

Though six years have already elapsed, we have not yet seen any media report indicating the completion of the investigation and successful prosecution of all the accused persons, resulting in their conviction.

Likewise, we are not aware of the fate of the then infamous multi-crore Janata Cloth scam which was taken up by the CBI for investigation about two decades ago. The people have a right to know about the fate of these cases taken up by the CBI.

Whether the NC Hills scam involved swindling of Rs 1,000 crore or any other amount by public servants and others, only a thorough, painstaking, fearless and impartial investigation by the CBI would be able to find it out. In spite of the overall low conviction rate in the CBI-probed cases so far, in our opinion the CBI is the only capable and trustworthy national investigation agency, though it has had its own pitfalls occasionally due to some of its officers being caught on the wrong foot.

The Director of CBI is usually chosen from the best of police officers available in the country by an independent selection board, and as such, it is believed that he would live up to the expectations of the people, and in the instant scam case, would personally supervise, monitor and guide the investigators so that the case could be brought to its logical conclusion in a reasonable time-frame and all the guilty persons brought to justice.

This is also a great opportunity for the Assam Chief Minister to re-establish his lost image of being a clean public leader, which he can do by extending full cooperation to the CBI team of investigators, including for interrogation of his ministerial colleagues and also raiding of their premises and linked establishments, should any of them come under cloud in the course of the investigation.

**The writer is a former Chief Secretary, Assam

http://www.sinlung.com/2010/06/nc-hills-scam-punish-all-culprits.html

 

[Oracle]

North East insurgency needs special strategy
R Dutta Choudhury
GUWAHATI, June 27 – Insurgency in North East should never be equated with that in Jammu and Kashmir. While dealing with insurgency in the North East states, the Government of India should adopt different strategies for different states depending on the ground situation instead of clubbing the same together, observed former GOC of the 4 Corps of the Army, Lt Gen DB Shekhatkar.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, Lt Gen Shekhatkar, who served both in North East and Jammu and Kashmir for a long time as an Army officer, said that insurgency in J&K is based on religious fundamentalism, it is not the case in Assam and other parts of North East. While Pakistan is directly involved in creating trouble in J&K for years, most of the major insurgent groups of NE used to receive indirect help from China.

Lt Gen Shekhatkar said that Pakistan has a direct role to play in creating trouble in J&K, while China officially never declared that it was supporting the militants of NE. However, it is a well established fact that the militant groups of NE are receiving direct or indirect help from China for years and even last year at least six to seven groups of militants went to China.

Giving a detailed account of the difference of militancy in J&K and NE, the former Army officer said that the first seeds of insurgency in NE were sown by the British rulers, who promised some kind of independence to Naga people, while the situation in J&K took a turn for the worse with the deterioration of the law and order situation since 1989. He said that though there were people who were for separation of J&K since the time of independence, the state started facing terrorism much later.

After the Chinese aggression of 1962, the rebels in NE started getting direct or indirect help from China and NSCN leaders I Swu and T Muivah went to China at a very young age to receive training. For years the militant groups continued to receive help from China in the form of training and weapons though the Government of that country never officially accepted the same, while Pakistan openly supported insurgency in J&K and even spoke in the favour of the insurgents in the international forum.

Lt Gen Shekhatkar pointed out that the demand of the tribal groups for self rule was the base of growth of insurgency in NE and after starting from Nagaland, insurgency spread to other parts of the region. So far Mizoram is the only success story where peace talks led to logical conclusion and the state is now considered one of the most peaceful in the entire country. In Assam, insurgency started much later as the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) was formed in 1979 and the administrative vacuums as well as the demand for deportation of illegal migrants were the main reasons for the growth of insurgency though it took a different turn later. Now insurgency has become more like cottage industries in the region with new militant groups being formed every year, which is very unfortunate, he added. He also said that wrong policies of the Government of India also fuelled growth of insurgency in the region.

Drawing a difference between the situation in NE and J&K, Lt Gen Shekhatkar said that the insurgents from J&K are receiving direct patronage from Pakistan and the leaders of the groups are receiving shelter in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK) and they are operating from those bases. The terrorists are also receiving weapons and other kinds of support from the administration of Pakistan. Only much later, Pakistan started providing indirect help to the insurgent groups of NE, who came in touch with the Pakistani agents mostly through Bangladesh. Though the insurgent groups of NE also have their bases in Myanmar, they are not receiving direct help from the Government of that country and they managed to stay in Myanmar because of incapability of the Government.

Lt Gen Shekhatkar pointed out that there have been instances when wrong policies of the Government of India resulted in deterioration of the situation in NE. Citing one example, he said that the recent trouble between Nagaland and Manipur over the visit of Muivah could have been avoided and the Centre failed to take right step at the right moment. On the other hand, Manipur should have been developed as the gateway to the SE Asian countries for the overall development of the state.

On his suggestions for the solution of the problems, the former Army officer said that the people in Assam are now fed up with insurgency and it is believed that the leaders of the ULFA also want an honourable way out. The Government of India should make all efforts to start the process of dialogue and at the same time, operations should continue to keep mounting pressure on the militants to come to the negotiation table. Efforts should also be made to de-link the insurgent groups from each other, he added. He also said that the Government should expose Pakistan's help to the insurgents both in NE and J&K in the international forum with conclusive proof.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=jun2810/at05