Imphal, Jan. 21: The BSF today rescued eight persons, including senior officials of the Food Corporation of India, after a shootout with gunmen on the Imphal-Moreh road while they were speeding towards the Indo-Myanmar border town.

Official sources said nine persons were abducted by unidentified men while they were on their way to Moreh in two jeeps to inspect the site for the construction of a food and civil supplies godown. The gunmen intercepted the vehicles at Khongkham, 4 km from Moreh, at 10.30 am.

On receiving information about the abduction, the BSF post at Khongkhang rushed its...

Kohima, Jan. 21: Making its first utterances on the high-profile Centre-NSCN (I-M) talks, the ?federal government of Nagaland? ? which represents the Naga National Council ? today said it was willing to start talks with the Centre if the latter showed ?sincerity?.

Much in the same breath, it said violence in Nagaland would continue if ?India continued to talk to people who are out of the family?.

The family referred to was legendary Naga insurgent leader A.Z. Phizo?s lineage.

Focusing his address on the plebiscite of 1951 and the NNC?s stand that Nagaland ?is in an independent position...

Guwahati, Jan. 21: Mortar attacks have added a ?new dimension? to security perceptions in the Assam capital, but police are fully prepared to quell the latest arsenal of militants, director-general of police Hare Krishna Deka said today.

Talking to The Telegraph, Deka said the shelling on December 25 had forced a change in the security strategy. ?All efforts are on to ensure that the coming Republic Day will be free from trouble.? Deka had yesterday reviewed the security scene at a meeting of deputy inspectors-general of police.

The new security strategy has already paid off, the police chief...

Sangbor Hills (North Cachar), Jan. 21: Barely three weeks after a ceasefire between the militant Dima Halam Daoga (DHD) and the Centre began, the outfit has accused security forces of violating the ground rules that were framed for cessation of hostilities.

The charges were levelled at a press briefing ? the first since the ceasefire came into effect ? at the outfit?s ?third battalion headquarters? at Sangbor, 46 km from Umrangshu in North Cachar Hills district.

DHD president Jewel Garlosa alleged that during the past three weeks, there had been four incidents of violation of ceasefire ground...

Jorhat, Jan. 21: Thirteen poachers surrendered before chief minister Tarun Gogoi today to mark the beginning of what is dubbed as the first step towards protection of birds in Assam.

The poachers, who earned their livelihood by catching migratory birds and selling them in nearby markets, pledged before the chief minister that they would not catch birds in the future. The new awakening was witnessed at the inaugural ceremony of the bird festival on the bank of the Brahmaputra at Bahona on the outskirts of Jorhat.

What convinced the poachers to give up their ways was a 100-metre-long...