Additional Charges Slapped Against High-Ranking HPCD Militants

Aizawl, May 5 : The Mizoram Police has slapped additional charges under nine different IPC sections and one under the arms act against two high-ranking Hmar People’s Convention Democratic (HPCD) militants arrested from Silchar, Assam, on April 16.

HPCD’s army chief Lalropuia Famhoite and finance secretary Norbar Sanate along with one Ngurthantluanga Sanate are currently in judicial custody.

The new cases against Lalropuia Famhoite and Norbar Sanate include charges of extortion, issuing death threats, kidnapping, mischievous use of explosives and criminal intimidation, among others.

The charges relate to cases lodged in various police stations in Aizawl and Kolasib districts over the past eight years.

If convicted, the duo face imprisonment for up to a decade or more for just one of the charges, the most lengthy jail term for the explosives case.

A senior police official said more charges are likely to be slapped against them since the HPCD issued an election boycott last month. As a result, no one in 31 villages was willing to contest the rural body polls conducted in six districts On April 30.

Meanwhile, a police officer from Churachandpur has written to the Mizoram government saying “private” Ngurthantluanga Sanate is not a member of the HPCD and that his arrest might have been a case of mistaken identity. Sources said this particular matter is likely to proceed as a petition.

Panel To Monitor Schemes in Mizoram

Aizawl, May 5 : The Mizoram government has formed a high-level monitoring and surveillance committee to ensure timely completion of centrally sponsored development projects.

The committee, headed by chief minister Lal Thanhawla, will monitor the progress of development projects, worth Rs 50 crore and above, and chalk out strategies to resolve hindrances, if any, in the implementation of the schemes in the state. It will also prepare a risk assessment report and develop plans for financial management.

Lal Thanhawla said most projects and schemes in Mizoram were centrally sponsored. "At present, a number of development projects are being implemented as part of the non-lapsable central pool of resources under DoNER ministry," he added.

There is no state government project at this moment in Mizoram, barring the New Land Use Policy, which aims to develop and give all farmers suitable, permanent and stable trade in the state.

The chief minister said there was a need for active monitoring and surveillance for expeditious completion of development projects and schemes as many a project had faced obstacles for want of proper planning. Hence the panel was formed.

He said the department of urban development and poverty alleviation was implementing Rs 137-crore project for Swachh Bharat Mission, PWD Rs 1,328.40 crore and the power and electricity department was looking after a project of Rs 297.90 crore. He added that Rs 1,526.14 crore had been sanctioned for New Land Use Policy (NLUP) in Mizoram.

Lal Thanhawla said the urban development and poverty alleviation department had carried out surveillance work for below Rs 50 crore projects in the state. But earlier there was no committee to look after the big projects.

The formation of the newly formed monitoring and surveillance committee was a part of the state government's approach to developing comprehensive growth strategies.

Rajnath promised to look into AFSPA withdrawal: AAPSU

Itanagar, May 5 : The All Arunachal Pradesh Student's Union (Aapsu) on Monday said Union home minister Rajnath Singh has promised to look into its demand for withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from Arunachal Pradesh.

An Aapsu team called on the minister at his New Delhi residence on Sunday and submitted a memorandum on the matter.

While the notification regarding the extension of AFSPA in nine districts (besides Tirap, Changlang and Longding) of the state has been kept in abeyance, Rajnath will discuss the issue with Union MoS for home Kiren Rijiju and a decision will be taken based on his (Rijiju's) wish and interpretation, Aapsu quoted Rajnath as saying in a press release on Monday.

President of the organization Kamta Lapung informed Singh that the strict customs of the tribes of Arunachal prevent illegal activities from taking place and, hence, the AFSPA is irrelevant there.

Coordinator of North East Students' Organization Pritam Sonam said, while the people of Arunachal are thankful to the Centre for inducting Rijiju as a junior minister, it is unfortunate that the AFSPA has been extended in a state that is an island of peace, the release added.

Swine Flu Contained in Mizoram

Aizawl, May 4 : With swine flu outbreak contained in Mizoram, the screening of people entering the state at the Mizoram-Assam border Vairengte has been winded up.

Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) Nodal Officer Dr Pachuau Lalmalsawma said, "With the onset of rains, swine flu cases in the country has dwindled."

Lalmalsawma said screening of passengers from outside the state at the lone Lengpui airport near Aizawl continued but it might be stopped in the future.

However, screening of people entering the state at inter-state border of Vairengte stopped since last Thursday, the official said.

He said that of the 30 samples sent to the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED), Kolkata, four were found to be positive but all the H1N1 patients recovered completely after being treated in the state.

Preparations for the next spell of dry season would soon be underway, Lalmalsawma added.

Meanwhile, state Mission Director of the National Health Mission Dr K Lalbiakzuala said that a special ward to treat diseases like swine flu and Ebola were being prepared at the Referral Hospital in Falkawn village near Aizawl.

The three-bedded special ward would be equipped exactly like the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and proposals were being made for expanding it into a ten-bedded ward, Lalbiakzuala added.

NSCN Rebels Kill 8 Indian Paramilitary Soldiers

The Assam Rifles personnel also fired back and one underground militant was killed while some others were injured in the ensuing encounter, they added.

By Samudra Gupta Kashyap

Guwahati, May 4 : Eight soldiers, seven of them belonging to the Assam Rifles, were killed when two vehicles of 23 Assam Rifles battalion were ambushed by the NSCN(K) in Mon district in Nagaland on Sunday. While three soldiers were killed on the spot, five others died later.

Sources in Assam Rifles in Kohima said the two vehicles, one a water-trailer and the other a Tata 407, were on their way to collect water from a natural source nearly four kms from their camp location in Mon district when they came under NSCN(K) attack. While the first vehicle was blown off by powerful IED explosion, the heavily armed militants who were positioned on vantage uphill locations sprayed bullets from AK-series weapons on the second vehicle.

The eight soldiers who were killed included seven of the 23 Assam Rifles and one jawan from the 164 Territorial Army Battalion. There were altogether 18 persons including the two drivers in the two vehicles. The incident occurred at around 2:45 pm on Sunday between Chaklangshu and Tobu in Mon district, nearly 390 km east of Kohima.

The surviving soldiers however retaliated, in the process killing at least two NSCN(K) militants, the sources said. While one uniformed body of an NSCN(K) militant was recovered from the spot, the militants managed to remove another militant who was seriously wounded and probably killed, the sources said.

Sunday’’ was the second major attack on security forces by NSCN(K) in the past few weeks. The NSCN(K) had killed two Gurkha regiment jawans in Tamenglong district in Manipur on March 21.

The outfit had called off its 15-year old ceasefire with the Union government on March 28.

Normalcy Returns to Cachar

By Santanu Ghosh
Silchar, Apr 30 : Normalcy returned to Barak Valley districts and bordering Mizoram today, after the tension of the past few days.

Tension has been simmering in Mizoram since last week in the wake of a campaign by a few Mizo student and youth groups, directing non-Mizo shopkeepers in Aizawl to wind up their business. Matters took a turn for the worst when the traders were forced to close shopon Tuesday and a majority of them started fleeing the state to their homes in Barak Valley.

Yesterday, the Mizoram home department rounded up seven members of a youth group, Mizo Tlangval Pawl, including its president Vanlalmawana, for allegedly fomenting inter-community tension.

In Cachar and Karimganj districts of Barak Valley in Assam, a few local organisations put up an indefinite blockade on Monday morning in protest against the threats to non-Mizo traders in Aizawl. But they withdrew it in the afternoon after the district administrations intervened.

Last evening, Cachar deputy commissioner G.M. Hazarika held a meeting with the agitating organisations and assured them that he would take up the matter with senior officials in Dispur. It was attended by local residential officers of Mizoram V.M. Thanga and Biswanath Bhattacharjee, senior officials of Cachar administration and representatives of the agitating organisations.

Sankar Dey, secretary of the Forum for Protection of Non-Mizos, one of the agitating organisations, said they would freeze their agitation for a week. But in case of any reprisal on any non-Mizo shopkeeper in Mizoram, the agitation would again gather momentum.

Kokborok in Tripura University

By Sekhar Datta

Agartala, Apr 30 : The Tripura Central University will introduce full-fledged MA course in Kokborok language.

Since the 1996, the university has been teaching Kokborok as a six-month certificate course but growing demand for development of the language persuaded governor P.B. Acharya to call for its study at the university level.

A final decision was taken at a recent meeting of the university and the course will be launched from the current academic year.

Disclosing this in an interaction with reporters yesterday, Tripura Central University vice-chancellor Anjan Kumar Ghosh said preparation for the launching of MA course in Kokborok was on.

"The syllabus has been finalised and now printing of books is on. We will hold an admission test for the course as well as for other courses between May 25 and 28. Leading experts in Kokborok, including poets and authors in the language will be inducted as teachers till final appointments are made," said Ghosh.

Tripura's leading poet Ratul Debbarma expressed his "joy and satisfaction" over the varsity's decision: "It will boost the study and process of learning of the language."

However, a script controversy - whether to use modified Bengali or Roman script - still remain unresolved.

Chief minister Manik Sarkar made it clear in a tribal literary conference in 2013 that the majority view of tribals on the script would be accepted by the government.

"Till finalisation of a single original script the language will be studied in modified Bengali script devised by late linguist Kumud Kundu Chowdhury," said Debbarman.

Naga Girl Working in Gurgaon Guesthouse Alleges Rape

By Shilpy Arora

Gurgaon, Apr 30 : A 19-year-old girl from Assam was allegedly raped on Wednesday morning. She works as a support staff in a DLF 1 guesthouse and was on duty around 8.30am when the incident is reported to have taken place.

The girl was at work in the guest house when one of her male colleagues forced himself upon her.

The accused hails from Nepal and works as a cook and support staff at the facility. The girl is reportedly a Naga, hailing from Dima Hasao district of Assam. She has been working in the guesthouse for the past two months, and has alleged that the accused had proposed her for a relationship last month, which she had refused.

According to a representative of a northeast students' centre, the girl initially approached her manager, who after consulting the senior management, requested her to settle the matter mutually with the accused. She refused, but by then, around 12.30pm, the accused had run away. The girl decided to call up the northeast student helpline number, which sent a team of representatives to her help. She was immediately taken to the DLF 1 police station, and then to Civil Hospital for a medical examination.

"She is traumatized. It is shocking that the guest house management did not inform the police, and the accused managed to flee," said Chumbemo M Patton, representing Nagaland at Delhi Police's northeast cell, who helped the girl lodge her complaint.

Representatives of the Naga students union (Delhi) and Zeliangrong students union (Delhi) reached Gurgaon in the afternoon to assist the victim. "We want Gurgaon Police to nab the accused immediately," said a representative from the northeast.

The girl's family, which has been informed about the incident, did not wish to speak to the media. "The matter was reported to the police at around 5pm. The accused had fled by then. We filed an FIR under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the IPC, and will arrest the accused soon," said ACP (crime) Rajesh Kumar.