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                          Vol.3, No.59 [*] August 12, 1998
                          --------------------------------

                 A man may worship fire for a hundred years,
                          but still he will burn.
                            - Persian proverb
   ---------------------------------------------------------------------

1  ULFA CHAIRMAN ARABINDA RAJKHOWA'S BROTHER SHOT DEAD    [AT:12-AUG-98]
   ---------------------------------------------------
   Unidentified gunmen shot dead Mr Dimba  Rajkhowa,  elder  brother  of
   ULFA   chairman,  Arabinda  Rajkhowa  at  the  ASTC  bus  station  at
   Chokidinghee in Dibrugarh at around 6 pm on Wednesday.
   
   According  to  an employee of the ASTC, Mr Rajkhowa was busy with his
   official work at the  sprawling  Assam  State  Transport  Corporation
   complex, when  two gunmen struck and fired two shots.  The assailants
   escaped after firing at him.  One of the two bullets pierced  through
   his chest.   He was rushed to the Assam Medical College hospital in a
   critical condition where he was declared dead.  Mr Dimba Rajkhowa was
   a supervisor of the ASTC and was inspecting incoming vehicles at  the
   workshop when he was attacked.

2  FOUR FAMILY MEMBERS OF ULFA PUBLICITY SECRETARY SHOT DEAD
   ---------------------------------------------------------
   Four  members  including  a  woman  of  the  banned  ULFA   publicity
   secretary,  Mitinga  Daimary  was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at
   Nalbari last night, according to an All India Radio (AIR) local  news
   report.  Details of the incident are awaited.
   
3  FIRE AT OIL DEPOT, ULFA CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY          [AT:12-AUG-98]
   ---------------------------------------------
   An Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) storage depot at  Thekeraguri,  about
   30  km  west  of Nagaon was ravaged in a devastating fire which broke
   out at around 4:15 am on Tuesday.  Villagers  around  the  site  said
   that they  heard  a  big  explosion at the time of the incident.  The
   actual cause of the fire is not yet officially established.
   
   The ULFA publicity secretary Mitinga Daimary in a release, owned  the
   responsibility  for  the  explosion,  and  said  that  the  depot was
   attacked by a mobile action group of the ULFA.  Police, however,  did
   not  deny  nor  confirmed  the  involvement  of  the militants in the
   explosion.  The possibility of an accident was not ruled out  as  per
   preliminary  investigations,  police  said,  and  added  that further
   investigation will be required to establish the exact  cause  of  the
   fire.
   
   Fire  tenders  from  Guwahati, Morigaon and Nagaon were rushed to the
   spot to contain the fire.  Fires in  six  of  the  seven  tanks  with
   15,000  kilo  litre  of  petroleum product has been extinguished this
   morning while fire in one of the tank is still raging.  Road  traffic
   through   the   national   highway   37  was  diverted,  while  train
   communication was suspended following the incident.    The  road  and
   rail  tracks  intersect at the point, and the depot was located about
   200 metre from the level crossing between the highway  and  the  rail
   tracks.  The Army had cordoned off the area.
   
   The loss in the fire is estimated at Rs.300 million.  No loss of life
   was reported.  Showers of black rain was reported to have  fallen  in
   the  nearby villages of the area this morning, according to AIR local
   news.
   
4  TWO KILLED IN GUWAHATI CITY BY ULFA MILITANTS	   [S:11-AUG-98]
   ---------------------------------------------
   Suspected ULFA militants shot dead two young businessmen of  Guwahati
   city, one Mr Maina Mahanta and one Mr Tapan Dutta and injured another
   at 8:15  pm  on  Monday.   Mr Maina Mahanta was the son of the CEO of
   India Carbon Limited,  Mr  Prafulla  Kumar  Mahanta.    According  to
   police,  Maina  Mahanta and his friend Tapan Dutta (of Tinsukia) were
   going towards R.G.Barua Road in their Maruti Zen car, when two Maruti
   vans shadowing the vehicle intercepted it and the militants fired  at
   them from  close range from both sides of their vehicle.  Police have
   recovered empties of 9 mm pistols from the spot.  Tapan Dutta  was  a
   surrendered ULFA man.
   
5  POLICE SI KILLED IN ENCOUNTER AT KHARUPETIA	           [S:10-AUG-98]
   -------------------------------------------
   Sub-inspector  and  in-charge  of  Kharupetia  police outpost, Keshab
   Patowary (42) was killed by Bodo  militants  (other  sources  suspect
   them  as  MULFA,  a Muslim outfit) near the Tangani bridge in Darrang
   district at around 9:30 on August 9, while  a  villager,  one  Ramzan
   Ali, in whose house the militants were hiding was killed by the Army.
   
   When  the  police  team  led  by  Keshab Patowary reached the Tangani
   bridge, on a tip-off that NDFB militants will receive Rs.100,000 from
   one Akbar Ali there, the militants fired at the party.   Mr  Patowary
   who who was injured in the attack died on the way to hospital.
   
   According to reports, an Army patrol arrived at the spot at that time
   and they caught one Babed Ali who led the Army to the house of Ramzan
   Ali.  When Ramzan Ali tried to flee, the Army opened fire killing him
   on the spot.  The Army and the police team recovered several arms and
   ammunition from the house of Ramzan Ali.
   
6  TEA GARDEN MANAGER ABDUCTED, BLT MILITANT SHOT DEAD    [AT:12-AUG-98]
   ---------------------------------------------------
   Suspected members of the banned Bodo outfit NDFB abducted the manager
   of  a  tea  garden  under  Tangla police station, while a senior Bodo
   Liberation Tiger (BLT) militant was shot dead by  NDFB  militants  at
   Goreswar   in  two  separate  incidents  in  Assam.  The  manager  of
   Krishan-Sosaibini Tea Estate, Mr Parasuram Pandiya was abducted by  a
   gang  of  four to five militants from his official residence at about
   7:30 pm on Tuesday. An AIR local news reported that the  manager  has
   been   killed.   Meanwhile,   a   CRPF   jawan   was  killed  in  the
   Golaghat-Nagaland border on Tuesday by suspected NSCN militants.
   

______________________________[Mozz-BG]_________________________________
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      [S=Sentinel, AT=Assam Tribune, Agencies = UNI, PTI, PIB]
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