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                     Vol.3, No.2 [*] February 9, 1997
                     --------------------------------
   
                      A hard rain's a-gonna fall. 
                            - Bob Dylan
   ---------------------------------------------------------------------
   

1  BJP URGES ULFA TO CLEAR STAND			 [AT+S:9-FEB-98]
   -----------------------------
  
   The Assam unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has  called  upon
   the  ULFA  to  make  its position clear on the recurring violence and
   incidents of kidnapping of  political  workers  and  arson  cases  in
   different parts of the State.  Formally releasing the party manifesto
   in  Guwahati  on  February  8, the president of State BJP, Mr Narayan
   Borkotoki said that a section of antisocial elements were  trying  to
   destabilize  the  poll  process in the name of ULFA, hence the outfit
   should make its stand clear at this juncture.
   
   In  its manifesto, the BJP vowed to scrap the IM(DT) Act to solve the
   infiltration issue, eradicate corruption from the administration  and
   effect social  justice by ushering in rapid economic development.  Mr
   Borkotoki said that electrified  barbed-wire  fencing  in  Bangladesh
   border  will be completed on time and provisions will be made to stop
   the infiltration through waterways.   Preference  will  be  given  to
   maintain  amity and harmony among different religious communities and
   tribes, he said.
   

2  AGP PLEA TO ULFA TO SHUN VIOLENCE		            [S:9-FEB-98]
   ---------------------------------
  
   The AGP appealed to the ULFA  and  other  militant  organizations  to
   desist  from creating a hostile and violent atmosphere in view of the
   forthcoming parliamentary elections in the State. In a release issued
   on February 8 in Guwahati, the AGP expressed serious concern  at  the
   recent  attack  by  the militants on party workers, and stated that a
   deep-rooted political conspiracy is behind  these  attacks,  and  the
   Congress and the BJP stand to gain by this. 
   

3  COP KILLED, 11 AGP MEN TAKEN HOSTAGE BY ULFA		    [S:8-FEB-98]
   --------------------------------------------
  
   The  ULFA  struck  in  a major way in Nagaon district on the night of
   February 6 when it shot dead a havildar  of  the  special  branch  of
   Assam  Police and abducted as many an 11 AGP activists, four of whom,
   however, escaped to  freedom,  Chief  Minister  P.K.Mahanta  said  in
   Guwahati on February 8.
   
   According to police sources in  Guwahati,  havildar  of  the  special
   branch,  Mr  Khitikanta  Bora  was shot by ULFA activists at Tetelia.
   His bullet-ridden body was recovered on the  morning  of  February  8
   from Tetelia  river.  He was shot at by AK-47 assault rifles, sources
   added.
   
   According to various other  reports,  the  ULFA  abducted  three  AGP
   leaders of the Sutargaon local committee from Panigaon area in Nagaon
   and released  later  in  the  night.    Police  sources said that the
   families of those abducted had not filed any FIR in  police  stations
   which  was the reason why they were not in a position to tell exactly
   how many had been abducted  by  the  ULFA.    A  few  days  ago  ULFA
   activists shot dead a prominent AGP leader of Nagaon, Mr Labhen Bora,
   who was known to be close to the Chief Minister.
   
   It may be mentioned that the ULFA attacks were targeted  against  the
   AGP  workers  in  the  Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency, where the Chief
   Minister's wife, Dr Jayashree Goswami Mahanta has been fielded as the
   AGP candidate.  The Army on February 4 had foiled an attempt  by  the
   ULFA  to assassinate Dr Jayashree Mahanta by blowing up her motorcade
   on  NH-39  near  Doboka  in  Nagaon  district  when  the  outfit  was
   assembling an explosive device in the area.
   

4  BOYCOTT HELPED CONGRESS TO CAPTURE POWER IN NAGALAND   [PTI:7-FEB-98]
   ----------------------------------------------------
  
   Congress returned to power in Nagaland with two-thirds majority  when
   43  of  its  candidates were declared elected unopposed on February 7
   for the 60-member Assembly.  The cake-walk for the Congress was  made
   possible  due  to  a  boycott of the February 22 Assembly election by
   non-Congress parties and other outfits including the Naga Ho-Ho,  the
   apex body  of  tribals.   A total of 20 Independents besides Congress
   nominees were now left in the fray for remaining 17  seats,  election
   for which would be held on February 22.
   
   The Opposition decided to stay away from the elections in response to
   the boycott call by Naga Ho-Ho which said the polls were untimely  as
   the  Centre  was  negotiating  peace  talks  with  National Socialist
   Council of Nagaland (Issac-Muivah).  The NSCN(I-M) changed its  stand
   on polls  twice  in  the  last  one  month.    First,  its council of
   ministers (Kilonsers) called for a boycott of the  elections  but  it
   was withdrawn after the top brass did not endorse the move.  However,
   the  NSCN(I-M)  changed  its mind and renewed the call for boycott on
   February 1.  Only the Congress decided to ignore the boycott.
   

5  AASU ACTIVISTS BURN COPIES OF VOTERS LIST		    [S:9-FEB-98]
   -----------------------------------------
   
   The activists of All Assam Students'  Union  (AASU)  burnt  incorrect
   voters  lists  and the copies of citizenship act throughout the State
   on February 8 in response to a call by the AASU  leaders  to  protest
   against  the government's move for holding elections with the voter's
   list which allegedly contain lakhs of foreigner's name.  The  leaders
   warned  the  Election  Commission of India and the Mahanta Government
   for holding election in such a  moment.    Meanwhile,  the  AASU  had
   decided to register its protest against the EC by observing a 23-hour
   Assam  bandh  from  6 am on February 13, and by abstaining themselves
   from participating in the entire election process.

6  THREE HARD-CORE ULFA ARRESTED			    [S:9-FEB-98]
   -----------------------------
   
   Security forces acting on a  tip-off  arrested  four  hard-core  ULFA
   militants - Jiten Gogoi, Jyoyish Gogoi, Pranjal Baruah and Dina Gogoi
   from an  area  15 km from Sonari on February 8.  The militants seeing
   the security forces tried to escape in their  bicycles  but  security
   personnel apprehended  them  after  a  hot chase.  Fourteen rounds of
   AK-47, two rounds of 9 mm, three rounds of .22 cartridges, one loaded
   camera, video cassettes and large number of  incriminating  documents
   were recovered from their possession.
   

7  BOMB BLASTS ON RAILWAY TRACK, DISASTER AVERTED	   [AT:7-FEB-98]
   ----------------------------------------------
   
   Militants  triggered  two  bombs  explosions  on the railway track at
   Rangapara between Gossaigaon and  Sirirampur  stations  in  Kokrajhar
   district  at  around  8  am  on  February  6 damaging the torsion bar
   controlling the change-over of tracks by trains.  The two bombs which
   had been placed 1.5 metre apart, created a cater of 1 metre diameter,
   while a third  bomb  did  not  explode.    The  unexploded  bomb  was
   recovered  by  the  Army and defused. It was suspected that the bombs
   were planted for the Brahmaputra Mail which was running late.
   

______________________________[Mozz-BG]_________________________________
Compiled from newspaper and agency reports for private circulation only.
      [S=Sentinel, AT=Assam Tribune, Agencies = UNI, PTI, PIB]
              http://www.cyberspace.org/~mozz/aol.html  
  http://piglet.uccs.edu/~kalita/assam/news/news-from-assam-index.html
________________________________________________________________________