Man held for raping sister-in-law
Agartala: A rape accused, who had violated his sister-in-law has been arrested, at Murabari village in Gomati district of Tripura on |Friday. Police said Biswajit Bhowmik, who had been absconding after the incident, was apprehended on Thursday from Joalikhamar village of the same district and being interrogated by police. Bhowmick allegedly raped his sister-in-law on Sunday night and was at large ever since. The woman, admitted to Tripura Sundari hospital on Sunday, was taken to the Agartala Government Medical College next day, Police said. The ruling CPI-M and opposition Congress both condemned the incident and called for exemplary punishment for him. (PTI)
Kidnapped Jalpaiguri businessman rescued by joint police team
Jalpaiguri (WB) : A kidnapped businessman, abducted by a gang on January 18 from Dasdargah area in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, was on Friday rescued from neighbiouring Assam. Two persons were arrested following the rescue mission by a West Bengal Police team accompanied by their Assam counterparts at a village in Barpeta district early Friday, a senior district police officer said. The captors had demanded a ransom of Rs 15 lakh for the release of businessman Faijor Ali. One of Ali’s relatives conceded they had mobilised Rs 70,000 but there was no headway and the police was informed. But the Police denied having any information about any ransom paid by the family. The hideout was tracked with help of mobile towers. (PTI)
Arunchal raises SDRF first company
Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh has raised the first company of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to avert casualty in times of mishap and disasters. The company has completed its disaster management training on Wednesday at the premises of the first battalion of Arunachal Pradesh Police (APP) at Chimpu, near here, official sources said here on Friday. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) based in Guwahati, under the guidance of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) imparted training to SDRF members of the state. The raising of SDRF in Arunachal Pradesh has been long overdue after the enactment of National Disaster Management Act in 2005. Due to its location, Arunachal is prone to flash flood, cloud burst, landslide and falls in seismic zone-V. Most of the time districts like Dibang Valley, Anjaw, West Siang, and Upper Siang remain cut off due to heavy rainfall and frequent landslide. The state police department for the last few months played a pro-active role in allocating the manpower and procurement of disaster management equipment so that the state response force could be functional. Under the guidance of NDMA and with the help of NDRF, training infrastructure was developed at Chimpu location to facilitate the trainees. (PTI)
Meeting with home jt secy on Article 244(A)
Diphu: Joint Action Coordination Committee for Autonomous State Demand Committee (JACCAS) today held discussions with the joint secretary to the Union home department (north east) Shambhu Singh here and demanded implementation of Article 244(A). The article allows formation of an autonomous state comprising certain tribal areas in Assam and creation of local legislature or council of ministers or both. JACCAS convenor J A Kather told newsmen that the meeting was positive. Kather quoted Singh as saying that the demand being a political one, he would apprise the Centre about it. JACCAS has been called to Delhi for discussions on the issue on February 12, he added. (PTI)
Planning commission meets in Nagaland
Kohima: The Planning Commission has reviewed the Annual Plan 2013-14 of Nagaland and discussed several matters regarding major project proposals, an official release said here on Thursday. A two-meber team of the Commission comprising commission advisor Brahmo Chaudhari and its member Saumitra Chaudhari reviewed the state’s plan in a meeting attended by all Administrative Heads (AHODs), Heads of Departments (HODs) and various officials here, it said. During the meeting, discussions on the construction of highways, laying of railway lines along the foot hill from Tizit-Dimapur-Jalukie, development deficit in the four most backward districts of the state were held, the release said. The meeting also discussed steps to revive the functionality of the Amguri-Tuli railways route which would assist the revival process of the NPPC Ltd (Paper Mill) Tuli. The proposal to convert the existing SASRD, Medziphema into a full-fledged university was also discussed in the meeting, the release said. Incidentally, the underlying objective of the meeting was to highlight the plight of the state in managing with the annual allocation of only Rs 2000 crores in the outlay of 2013-2014, the release added. (PTI)
Labourers force Assam tea garden manager to leave estate
Karimganj (Assam): A tea garden manager was forcibly evicted from his official bungalow and compelled to leave the estate in Assam by irate labourers alleging that they were deprived of their dues like provident fund and gratuity for a long time, the police said on Thursday. Labourers of Craigpark Tea Garden in Cachar district almost dragged out garden manager Pranab Roy, hailing from Kolkata, out of his bungalow on Wednesday. However, the police rescued him and safely took him out of the estate. He was staying alone in the bungalow. The mob had come with kerosene to set ablaze the bungalow but were prevented from doing so, the sources said. The protesting labourers, however, occupied the bungalow stating they would run the garden themselves but would not allow Pranab Roy to return. Craigpark Tea Garden labour leader Sankar Ree claimed before the media that the garden authorities have been depriving them of PF, gratuity, etc, since long with crores of Rupees under PF belonging to over 750 labourers of the garden pending payment. The labourers alleged that Roy also took harsh steps like not providing them with quarters if they did not attend to 225 working days in a year. The Cachar district administration about a year and a half back had asked garden owner Shib Kanai to come from Kolkata to take charge of his estate, Ree said adding the owner began to neglect the garden again and the condition of the estate deteriorated with the labourers facing an uncertain fate. (PTI)