Three ULFA(I) cadressurrender in Assam
Guwahati: Three cadres of an outlawed outfit have surrendered before the police in Tinsukia district of Assam, a senior police officer said. One of them was allegedly involved in the killing of Bhaskar Kalita, the officer-in-charge of Bordumsa Police Station, Director General of Police Dr Kuladhar Saikia told reporters here on Wednesday. Based on inputs about the ULFA-I men crossing the India-Myanmar border to carry out specific activities in upper Assam, a joint counter-insurgency operation was launched by a team of Assam Police, the Indian Army and the CRPF at Tarani Reserve Forest on Tuesday. “The security forces persuaded the cadres to give up arms and the ULFA(I) personnel surrendered with a huge cache of arms and ammunition,” a police officer said. The weapons and the ammunition which the cadres surrendered include AK-81, AK-56 and HK-33 rifles along with nine magazines, two hand grenades and 425 bullets. The three insurgents were identified as Bubul Moran alias Tiger Asom, Binanda Dohutia alias Swadesh Asom and Chandrakanta Borgohain alias Tipang Asom, the police said. The DGP said that the Tinsukia Superintendent of Police informed him on Wednesday that Moran was allegedly involved in Kalita’s killing in an encounter with the outfit near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border on May 4, 2018. (PTI)
Mizoram BJP protests against ‘democracy violation’
Aizawl: The Mizoram unit of the BJP Thursday organised a sit-in demonstration here to protest against what it called was “violation of democracy” by the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. Carrying placards which read ‘Save Democracy, Save Bengal’, the BJP workers raised slogans against the TMC government, alleging that the Mamata Banerjee-led party obstructed poll campaigns by Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath. A press statement issued by the BJP here said similar protests were held across the country. In the statement, the party also claimed that “many of its leaders and workers were killed and injured while resisting violence unleashed by the TMC”. “The TMC, led by Mamata Banerjee, had resorted to violent means to stop our political leaders, including party chief Amit Shah, from launching campaigns in Bengal. Such arrogance is against the spirit of democracy and the Indian Constitution,” it said. The TMC-BJP rivalry touched a new low on Tuesday when the supporters of the two parties clashed with each other in north Kolkata, leading to the desecration of polymath Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar’s bust in one of the reputed colleges of the city. (PTI)
Illegal Myanmar cigarettes seized
Guwahati: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Assam Police has seized over 21,500 illegal Burmese cigarettes valued at Rs 4.3 lakh from Guwahati, exposing the spike in smuggling of contraband goods between Myanmar and India’s Northeastern region. “We received a tip-off about the consignment and raided a house in Panjabari area on Wednesday. We have recovered 43 cartons of Myanmar-made cigarettes. We have also arrested one Md. Abdul Wahid of Manipur for his involvement in the smuggling,” said Additional Director General of Police (CID) L.R. Bishnoi on Thursday. Bishnoi said that cross-border smuggling of drugs has become a matter of concern for the police. “The CID alone has registered over 450 cases under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in 2018. This is just the tip of the iceberg as so many agencies are working,” he said adding that over 3 million psychotropic tablets, 1.25 lakh bottles of cough syrup, seven kgs of heroin and over 10,000 kgs of cannabis were seized by the CID in Assam last year. He said the smugglers normally bring these drugs by road from Myanmar. “They first take these consignments to Mizoram from Myanmar and then to Dimapur from where these are routed to Assam and other places. Our location is very close to the golden triangle and hence the menace is more here,” said Bishnoi. “The profit margin is very high in this illegal trade and hence people take it up. Md. Abdul Wahid confessed that his cut for the consignment of cigarettes was Rs 90,000. The cost of one kg of heroin is Rs 1 crore. So one can well imagine the money involved in the illegal drugs trade,” Bishnoi added. (IANS)
Thunderstorm hits West Tripura
Agartala: Hundreds of houses have been damaged, several trees uprooted and power lines snapped as strong winds accompanied by thundershower hit West Tripura district on Wednesday night, officials said. Total 382 houses have been damaged in the thunderstorm with waterlogging in several areas under the Agartala Municipal Corporation, chief state project officer of Disaster Management Authority, Sarat Das, told PTI. “Chief Secretary LK Gupta has already reviewed the situation along with senior officials and has asked to take necessary actions for draining water from the inundated areas,” he added. Power supply lines, which got snapped after trees fells on them, have been restored, the officer said. In a statement, the Chief Minister’s Office said the government was closely monitoring the situation and Biplab Deb himself spoke to officials to expedite restoration of supplies. MeT officials said it was a nor’wester, typical to this time of the year, that had hit the city last night and such storms would continue till the arrival of the monsoon next month. “19.9 mm of average rainfall was recorded yesterday across the state. Storm and thundershower are in forecast today as well,” Sudip Deb of Agartala MeT office said. (PTI)
Guv honours nurses in Manipur
Imphal: Nurses are treasure of human resource, appropriately skilled for health challenges and are destined to play a greater role in delivering a better, faster and more convenient healthcare service to the country.,said Governor Dr Najma Heptulla. She stated this while observing International Nurses day at RIMS, Imphal, here today. She said there are thousands of nurses currently practising in this country and they are a massive resource which the Government intends to safeguard and strengthen. Nurses are also reaching new levels of competency as the demand for more complex nursing care increases she added. There is now an impressive quantum of highly skilled nurse practitioners in the country, she further said. ” Nurses of Manipur are very popular for their mild mannered behaviour and skill. They are very much in demand in other states and even abroad and the demand is growing,” she said. The Governor said the service delivery role of nurse practitioners in primary healthcare has not improved as much as many originally envisaged. There are a number of reasons for this and the Government is making serious efforts to address them, she observed. (UNI)