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                         Vol.3, No.61 [*] August 17, 1998
                         --------------------------------
       
              What is wan man's news is another man's throubles.
                           - Finley Peter Dunne
   ---------------------------------------------------------------------
   
1  I-DAY CELEBRATIONS MARRED BY BANDH IN ASSAM		   [S:17-AUG-98]
   -------------------------------------------
   Independence  Day celebrations throughout the Brahmaputra Valley were
   marred by the ULFA's call for boycott and bandh though  the  official
   programmes  were  held  without any hitch. The ministers ceremonially
   hoisted the  national  tricolour  in  their  respective  headquarters
   assigned  to  them  while  the  day passed off peacefully without any
   untoward incident. The Government claimed that the celebrations  were
   in  success.  There  was no impact of the ULFA's call for boycott and
   bandh in Barak Valley and the two hill district of Karbi Anglong  and
   North Cachar Hills.
   
   Meanwhile, 133 ULFA and seven Bodo militants came overground and laid
   down their arms at a ceremony held at Mariani in Jorhat  district  on
   August  13.  The Governor, S.K.Sinha, the Chief Minister, P.K.Mahanta
   besides Lt.Gen N.C.Vij, GOC 4 Corps were present in the ceremony.

   The President of India, K.R.Narayanan in his address to the nation on
   August 15 from the Central Hall of the Parliament marking the end  of
   the  golden  jubilee  celebrations  of  Independence, expressed grave
   concern over the sense of deprivation and neglect among the people of
   the Northeast because no tangible steps had been taken in the past 50
   years for economic uplift of the region, and called upon the  members
   to  pay urgent attention to the region so as to integrate it with the
   rest of the country.
   
   The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) on August 14 observed the day as
   `betrayal day' to protest against  non-implementation  of  the  Assam
   Accord  by  the  Union as well as the State Government, during the 13
   years following the signing of the Accord on August 14,  1985.    The
   AASU  had reminded the Government in the State the sacrifices made by
   the 855 martyrs and the innumerable sufferers in the State during the
   long Assam agitation.
   
2  ANOTHER ULFA KIN SHOT DEAD IN DIBRUGARH		  [AT:17-AUG-98]
   ---------------------------------------
   Unidentified gunmen shot dead another elder brother of an ULFA  ultra
   at  around  11:30  pm  on  August  15  at  Borpothar  Dighalagaon  in
   Dibrugarh.  The victim was Debakanta Gogoi (42) an  employee  of  the
   Dibrugarh   University,   and  the  elder  brother  of  ULFA  `second
   lieutenant' Krishna Gogoi, a Kachin trained hard-core ultra.
   
   According  to  sources,  at  around 11:20 pm, a group of armed youths
   came in vehicle and called out for Debakanta Gogoi at his  residence.
   As  his wife opened the door, she saw three well-built masked youths.
   One of them forced himself in and  headed  for  the  bedroom.    Even
   before  Debakanta Gogoi could get out of his bed, the miscreant asked
   Gogoi's wife to  put  off  the  light.    This  done,  the  miscreant
   switched-on  his  torchlight  and  focused  on  Gogoi, and pumped two
   bullets from his pistol.  The assailants then coolly  walked  out  of
   the house, followed by his companions, and drove away.

   In another incident, a surrendered militant, Rubul Gohain,  was  shot
   at  by  two  youths who rode double on a bicycle, injuring him on his
   left knee at the Dugabari locality of Dibrugarh  on  the  morning  of
   August 14.    One  9  mm blank cartridge was found at the site of the
   shooting.  The miscreants managed to escape after the incident.
   
   Meanwhile, police recovered a body near Phulaguri under  Raha  police
   station in  Nagaon  district  on August 16.  Police said the body was
   identified as that of one Jayanta Phukan, elder brother  of  Lambodar
   Phukan, a  surrendered  ULFA activist of Pub-Salmara in Raha.  Police
   suspect that it may be a case of accident.
   
3  VILLAGE HEADMAN KILLED, TENSION IN DARRANG		   [S:17-AUG-98]
   ------------------------------------------
   Tension  gripped  Darrang  district  as suspected Bengali Tiger Force
   (BTF) militants killed at least six persons, including two women  and
   a  close  relative  of  the Assam Revenue Minister Zoii Nath Sarma at
   Milanpur area at Tangla at 10:30 pm  on  August  14  while  the  Bodo
   militants  of  the  NDFB  shot dead Thaneswar Basumatary, the village
   headman of Mondubi village under Udalguri police station at  8:30  am
   at  Goroibarichowk on August 16, triggering tension in Rowta-Udalguri
   area.
   
   Besides these incidents, an attempt by ULFA militants to  blow  up  a
   bridge  in Nagaon district was foiled by an alert police on the night
   of August 15.  In Kokrajhar district, police recovered two bodies  in
   the  forest  area  while  they failed to trace out two others, all of
   whom were kidnapped by unidentified Bodo miscreants on August 14.  In
   Golaghat district, two Central Reserve  Police  Force  (CRPF)  jawans
   were  seriously injured when suspected militants ambushed a convoy of
   the CRPF near Garampani on  August  14.  
   
   The  manager of Kachi tea estate, Mr.P.R.Pandya, who was kidnapped on
   August 10 by the Bengali Tiger Force (BTF) was rescued by the Army on
   August 13, from a hideout of the BTF at Koimari  village  in  Darrang
   district.  In Lakhimpur district, two officials of Shiv Vani Company,
   engaged  by  the  Oil  India  Limited  (OIL)  for  oil exploration at
   Bahgora-Deurigaon near Bihpuria, Mr S.D.Bhasin and Mr  S.K.Agarwalla,
   were  kidnapped  by  a  group  of  about eight ULFA ultras at 6 pm on
   August 12.

4  SHOOT-OUT IN GUWAHATI:  COP, ANOTHER HURT		   [S:15-AUG-98]
   -----------------------------------------
   An Assam Police (Special Branch) sub-inspector, Mr Dilip Dutta and  a
   civilian,  Raju  Das  was  seriously injured when suspected militants
   fired upon them near Maligaon area in Guwahati at around 7:30  pm  on
   August 14.  A Maruti van coming in breakneck speed from Jalukbari was
   signalled  to stop by a police patrol party, but the occupants of the
   van fired at the party injuring the sub-inspector and  the  civilian.
   The  van  sped  away  crossing  Bharalumukh  and  Paltan Bazar police
   stations.
   
5  NDFB BLAMES ARMY FOR KILLINGS			   [S:15-AUG-98]
   -----------------------------
   The National Democratic Front of Bodoland  (NDFB),  the  banned  Bodo
   outfit, expressed shock over the `barbaric killings' of the family of
   Mithinga  Daimary  and  the  elder  brother  of ULFA's chief Arabinda
   Rajkhowa, Mr Dimba Rajkonwar recently.  In a statement, the  outfit's
   publicity  secretary  Lt.B.Erakdao on August 14 alleged that the Army
   had teamed up with the `murderous gangs' like SULFA, BLT, BTF etc and
   committing these dastardly killings.  In a separate release  he  also
   termed the  surrender  of the ultras at Mariani as a `hoax'.  He also
   published a list of the deserters of the  NDFB  who  would  surrender
   before the authorities.

6  SULFA POOH POOHS ULFA'S DEMAND			   [S:14-AUG-98]
   ------------------------------
   Two prominent surrendered ULFA  activists  from  Dibrugarh  district,
   Sourav  Gogoi and Jugal Kishore Mahanta pooh poohed the ULFA's demand
   for  independence  of  Assam  from  India  and  asked  the   outfit's
   `commander-in-chief'  Paresh Barua to arrange for inducting Pakistani
   from Pakistan to rule over his dream independent Assam because by the
   time Assam attained independence, there will be no Assamese  left  in
   Assam.   In  a  statement  on August 13, they expressed deep distress
   over the killings and said they did not want any more violence.
   
7  SMALL POWER PROJECTS IN NORTHEAST		         [PTI:13-AUG-98]
   ---------------------------------
   The Union Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources has  identified
   610  sites in the Northeast for small hydroelectric power projects to
   generate 504 mega watt  of  power.  An  official  release  said  that
   considering  the immense potential for the promotion of such projects
   in the region, the Ministry has already announced a special incentive
   package for such projects.

8  NAMERI NATIONAL PARK OPENED 				   [S:14-AUG-98]
   ---------------------------
   The Public Works  Department  (PWD)  and  Forest  Minister  of  Assam
   Mr.Nagen   Sharma   declared  open  the  Nameri  National  Park  near
   Bhalukpung in Sonitpur district on August 14.   The  park  covers  an
   area of  199.73  square  km.  The Assam Government has allotted Rs.25
   million for the development of the park  which  will  have  a  `Tiger
   Project'.
   
9  SELF-STYLED `FILM PRODUCER' ARRESTED AT SIBSAGAR	   [S:14-AUG-98]
   ------------------------------------------------
   Sibsagar  police  arrested Rajkumar Jain, his wife and another person
   hailing from Mumbai, on  charges  of  cheating.    Mr  Jain  and  his
   accomplices  checked-in  on  July  27  at  the local Siddharth Hotel,
   identifying as a film  producer.    On  August  10,  when  the  hotel
   presented him a bill for Rs.10,367, Mr Jain resorted to dillydallying
   and sycophancy without paying the bill, stating that he had Rs.20,000
   in his  briefcase,  the  key  of which has been lost.  The suspicious
   hotel authorities broke open the briefcase, and instead  found  three
   dishes lost by the hotel.  He was handed over to the police.
   
10 TWENTY-FIVE SELECTED FOR SPORTS PENSION		  [AT:15-AUG-98]
   ---------------------------------------
   The  Assam  Government  has  selected  25  sports  persons for sports
   pension and another nine persons for award of onetime financial grant
   of Rs.10,000 for 1998-99.
   
______________________________[Mozz-BG]_________________________________
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