Dear Readers,

We regret that AOL news could not be compiled and distributed
for the past three weeks due to circumstances beyond our
control. Your subscription period will be appropriately
extended. Further, there will be no issue of AOL next week
on account of Durga Puja holidays.

Thank you.

- Mozz for AOL team.
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                         Vol.4, No.63 [*] October 13, 1999
                         ---------------------------------

                 Never put off till tomorrow what you can do
                          the day after tomorrow.
                               - Mark Twain
   -------------------------------------------------------------------
   
1  NDFB DENIES ARMY CLAIM OF KILLING NDFB CADRES         [S:10-OCT-99]
   ---------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  The  banned National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)
   rejected claims by  the  Army  that  it  had  killed  five  of  its
   activists  in  Udalguri  on October 7 and three near Gossaigaon and
   said, all of those killed were innocent civilians and  had  nothing
   to  do  with the NDFB. The outfit's publicity secretary also denied
   that the five dead persons shown in a photograph in The Sentinel on
   October 9, were those of the slain NDFB militants.
   
   Meanwhile,  in  Guwahati  three NDFB militants were arrested in the
   Fatasil-Ambari area.  Police sources said, the militants  had  come
   to  receive  Rs.500,000  as  the  first installment of their ransom
   money  from  one  Dr  Ratneswar  Swargiyary,  when   policemen   in
   plainclothes  nabbed  the militants, identified as Rabin Ramchiary,
   Kaman Boro and Danswarang Basumatary.
   
2  COMMUNICATION CENTRE OF ULFA BUSTED, SIX HELD         [S:10-OCT-99]
   ---------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  Police in Guwahati busted a communication centre of  the
   ULFA  at  Sundarbari  under  Jalukbari  police station and nabbed a
   hard-core militant, Ranjan Saikia alias Gaurav of  Nagaon  district
   from its  premises.    However,  the  main  operator of the centre,
   Bhaskar Dutta, also of Nagaon stated to be a wanted ULFA  militant,
   managed to escape.

   A  computer and a large number of incriminating documents have been
   seized from the centre. They revealed the future course  of  action
   of  the  outfit and about its conduits in the city. On the basis of
   the information from the documents, police took five  persons  into
   custody.  They  include  two  businessmen  from  Fancy Bazar, Dimba
   Bhattacharyya and Manas Chowdhury.
   
3  NEW TWIST TO ZOII NATH SARMA CASE                     [S:13-OCT-99]
   ---------------------------------
   MANGALDOI:  `The  police  made  me  to  make a false statement that
   Hiranya Rajbongshi, brother of Congress  MP  Madhav  Rajbonshi  had
   paid  an  amount  of  Rs.300,000 to the ULFA to assassinate Dr Zoii
   Nath Sarma, the Revenue Minister of Assam.' 
   
   This statement made by ULFA activist Gajen Nath alias Niren  Baruah
   before the Judicial Magistrate on October 6 has given a new turn to
   the killing of three Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) workers at Dholpur on
   September 9 in which Dr Sarma had a miraculous escape.
   
   At that time, the AGP termed the incident as the handiwork of armed
   youths sponsored  by  the Congress candidate Madhav Rajbongshi.  It
   was also alleged that as per the confessional statement by the ULFA
   activist, Rajbongshi's brother paid the amount to him to  kill  the
   Revenue Minister.

4  POLICE HIGH-HANDEDNESS IN HAFLONG                     [S:12-OCT-99]
   ---------------------------------
   HAFLONG:  Police in Haflong roughed up one John Farland Suchiang on
   September 15.  The incident  took  place  when  Suchiang  protested
   against  a  policeman  demanding  money from his truck driver while
   they were travelling from Umrangso to  Shangpung. 
   
   He was mercilessly beaten up by the police, and  stripped  off  his
   clothes at  the police station.  The police also threatened him and
   made him to sign papers alleging that  he  was  beaten  up  by  the
   public.  He was put in the lockup for the night.  The victim is now
   undergoing treatment at the Guwahati Neurological Research Centre.
   
5  TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT HIKE IN BUS FARE IN NORTHEAST   [PTI:12-OCT-99]
   -------------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:  Road  travel  in  the  Northeast  on  private   vehicles
   may  become  25  per cent dearer following the steep hike in diesel
   price in the country. The Bus Owner's  Association  has  urged  the
   governments  of the respective states in the region to increase the
   bus fare by 25 per cent, the general secretary  of  the  North-East
   Tourist Omni Bus Association, Dinesh Kalita said.

6  FORCIBLE COLLECTIONS FOR PUJA IRKS CITY BUS OWNERS    [S:10-OCT-99]
   --------------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:   Following  forcible collection of subscriptions ranging
   from Rs.101 to Rs.3,000 for Durga Puja celebrations by various puja
   committees from city buses in Guwahati, the Greater Guwahati  Motor
   Transport  Association  (GGUMTA)  has  threatened to stop plying of
   city buses in the city.  In some cases drivers and conductors  were
   beaten  up  when  they  express  their  inability to pay the amount
   demanded by the puja committee members.
   
   Meanwhile, Guwahati city superintendent  of  police  Bhaskar  Jyoti
   Mahanta  appealed  to  the  citizens committees and village defence
   parties of various localities in  the  city  to  be  vigilant  over
   forcible collection  of  funds  in  the name of festivals.  He also
   appealed to  the  people  to  inform  the  nearest  police  station
   immediately  if they have any information on forcible collection of
   funds.
   
7  NEDFI EMPLOYEE TO ATTEND AMERICAN PROGRAMME           [S:10-OCT-99]
   -------------------------------------------
   GUWAHATI:   Gautam  Chintey,  deputy  manager  of   North   Eastern
   Development   Finance   Corporation  (NEDFI),  Guwahati,  has  been
   selected by the United States Information Agency (USIA), Washington
   D.C., for  participating  in  `Entrepreneurship  in  the  US'  from
   October  12  to  November  5,  1999.  The  programme  is to give an
   overview on the role of entrepreneurship in the US economy and  the
   history of American free enterprise system.
   
   Chintey is schedule  to  attend  a  series  of  meetings  with  the
   department  of  commerce,  banks, representatives of small business
   and chambers of commerce to investigate the role of  government  in
   supporting entrepreneurial activity at the local, state and federal
   level in the US.  Participants from ten countries have been invited
   to attend the programme.  Gautam Chintey is representing India.
   
8  THIS TOO IS A WAY TO CAST VOTES!                       [S:5-OCT-99]
   --------------------------------
   BARPETA:   The elections to the Barpeta Lok Sabha seat had its fair
   share of amusement for the onlookers and tension  for  the  polling
   personnel  in  a  polling station at 71 Garala Boys LP School under
   Baghbar assembly segment where two illiterate Muslim women  voters,
   put  the  stamps on their palms instead of on the ballot papers and
   inserted the blank ballots through an opening on the  wooden  table
   used by the headmaster of the school.
   
   As  the polling officers rushed to retrieve the ballot papers, they
   found to their dismay that  the  table  with  drawers  was  locked.
   Although the headmaster was present, he did not bring the keys with
   him.   Finally  the ballot papers were retrieved after breaking the
   lock much to the amusement of the other voters.  It  was  not  very
   hard  to guess which party the two voters supported, for the symbol
   of the Congress party is an upright palm.
   
______________________________[Mozz-BG]_________________________________
Compiled from newspaper and agency reports for private circulation only.
      [S=Sentinel, AT=Assam Tribune, Agencies = UNI, PTI, PIB]
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