News

Guwahati, April 14: The US-based Kuki International Forum has charged the Assam government with being “biased” in its handling of the ongoing Hmar-Dimasa conflict in Cachar and North Cachar Hills districts.

In an open letter to chief minister Tarun Gogoi, the forum claimed the state administration had been partial towards the Dimasas since the clashes in south Assam began. “The biased nature of the state government has been in evidence since the beginning of the conflict,” it said.

The Kuki community, which inhabits several areas of the two districts, had been perceived to be neutral on the...

Jorhat, April 13: Eight years after it was raised, the Assam Tea Plantation Security Force (ATPSF) is struggling to combat the might of militant outfits without the high-tech communication tools considered necessary for such a battle.

The force, raised in 1995 exclusively for the protection of tea garden executives, has been deployed in about 100 tea estates of Upper Assam, Darrang, Sonitpur, Lakhimpur and Silchar. It has 115 platoons, comprising about 3,000 personnel.

An ATPSF platoon commander who wished not to be named told The Telegraph that members of the force, especially those stationed...

April 13: Strife-torn Cachar continued to be rocked by violence while tension simmered in neighbouring North Cachar Hills district though there were no fresh incidents of violence.

In the continuing ethnic clashes in Cachar, four more houses were set ablaze in Nutan Punji area as four police outposts were put up in Hmar and Dimasa-dominated areas and police patrolling intensified.

Police sources said unidentified men torched four houses belonging to Hmar and Nepali communities. The militants also opened fire before escaping to the nearby jungles. The police also recovered a body from the...

Guwahati, April 12: The North Eastern Development Financial Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) has launched a special drive to help women entrepreneurs in the Northeast during this fiscal year.

Disclosing this to newspersons last night, NEDFi chairman-cum-managing director J.P. Saikia said the premier financial institution, which assists self-employment in the region, plans to train over 200 entrepreneurs with special emphasis on the fairer sex.

“We will be holding five training programmes exclusively for women and those who successfully complete the course will be given financial assistance under our...

Imphal, April 12: The Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF) has warned Manipur police that it would launch an offensive against the force if police commandos do not desist from “killing” its cadre after capturing them.

In a statement issued on the eve of the outfit’s “martyrs’ day,” which will be observed tomorrow, the RPF — the political wing of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) — accused the state police of killing “revolutionaries” after arresting them.

It said during the past 20 years, nearly 200 cadre of the outfit have been killed by the force. Of these, 136 were killed by torture in...