IMPHAL, Jan 24? Kuki militants have freed Additional Chief Engineer, Irrigation department K. Ibotomba Singh who was kidnapped from Singhat area in Churachandpur district on January 20, official sources said today, reports PTI.

Militants belonging to Kuki National Army released Singh at an interior place in the district yesterday, the sources said.

Meanwhile, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) deputy manager R Sadasivam and a businessman were still in the custody of the Kuki militants-United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF), the official sources said.

The UKLF had demanded a huge sum for the...

New Delhi, Jan. 24: The communications ministry is locked in a battle with the home and defence ministries over ?blanket? monitoring of mobile phone calls in sensitive areas, particularly the northeast.

The home ministry has informed the communications ministry that monitoring of wireless communication in sensitive areas is part of its civilian functions.

The defence ministry has indicated that it will permit deployment of WiLL (wireless in local loop) systems ? limited mobility service ? in the northeast if it is granted monitoring access. The home ministry does not object to this.

None of...

Imphal/Guwahati, Jan. 24: Two Manipur ministers and a deputy inspector-general of police survived an ambush by suspected Kuki rebels in Thoubal district while the Ulfa claimed to have killed nearly 15 CRPF jawans in Assam?s Barpeta district today.

Assam director-general of police Hare Krishna Deka dismissed the Ulfa claim, saying a lone CRPF jawan died in an encounter while a militant was killed in the gunbattle.

Manipur DGP S. Bimolchandra Singh told The Telegraph that the minister of state for social welfare D.K. Korungthang and minister of state for agriculture K. Ranjit Singh (both with...

Rangiya, Jan. 24: A land deluged with milk and honey ? this was Bodoland viewed through the prism of wild jungles in Bhutan, where Promilla Ishwari and her militant-husband Lohit Ishwari fought a futile battle.

Nothing came out of the fight for ?freedom, equality and justice? ? ideals, which Lohit had strapped to his soul like a priest?s cross.

Lohit, with Promila in tow, today deposited the gun at a surrender ceremony involving several NDFB and Ulfa rebels, held at the Red Horns division?s base in this Kamrup sub-division.

After three years of life in jungles for the cause of Bodoland...

Dimapur, Jan. 24: A day after its leaders wrapped up their maiden talks on Indian soil, the NSCN (I-M) today said issues relating to Manipur ? a grey area in the entire peace process ? were only a part of the ?Indo-Naga problem?.

Speaking out for the first time on the recent meeting between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Manipur delegation led by chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, NSCN (I-M) leader V. Horam today said the Indo-Naga issue should be ?looked in its totality?.

?We don?t want to waste time splitting hairs on the Manipur-Nagaland or Nagaland-Assam issues. We are not...