Thousands join silent procession in Nalbari
Thousands of people from all walks of life took out a silent procession in Nalbari in Assam in protest against the killing of Assam Forest and PWD Minister Nagen Sarma and four others at Niz Bahjani area by ULFA militants. The procession organised by Nalbari District Committee of the AGP evoked response from over ten thousand people from different parts of the district. Holding placards and banners the processionists condemned the activities of the banned ULFA.

Protest agains terrorism
"The independent Assam that they want to create will be engulfed in darkness," said Sangeet Natak Akademi chairperson Dr. Bhupen Hazarika recently. Dr. Hazarika was referring to the terror unleashed by militant organisations like the ULFA in the State which has caused immense loss of lives. Dr. Hazarika, along with a host of widely known artistes and critics,  joined a kilometre long procession in Guwahati to protest against terrorism in the State.

Policemen attacked by tribal women
The incident occurred when the policemen were returning after arresting a man, who had allegedly sheltered a group of NLFT ultras. The women attacked the police party with batons and other lethal weapons, besides brickbatting them in which ten policemen, including the officer-in-charge of the Jirania police station, were injured. Police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the crowd, the sources said. The militants, who had allegedly planned to attack security personnel, managed to escape, the sources added.

Mynmarese army abducts Mizo teacher
Myanmarese Army personnel allegedly abducted a village teacher from Mizoram after crossing the international boundary in pursuit of rebel activists, Director General of Police, Mizoram, Tumsanga said. The activists of the rebel Chin National Army, fighting for restoration of democracy in Myanmar, allegedly fired upon the Myanmarese Army deployed near the border river Tiau from the Indian side of the river.

AR personnel shot dead by colleague
A head constable of 23 battalion of  Assam Rifles has been shot dead by a rifleman, police said. The rifleman Manju Chand opened fire at the head constable Manipal Singh following an altercation. The assailant is absconding. The incident occurred at Dhajanagar camp in South Tripura district.

Fake currency seized
Police have seized fake currency worth Rs. 49,000 from a Myanmarese national on the Indo-Myanmar border. According to official sources, acting on a tip-off, the Champhai district police arrested a Myanmarese youth near the international border and recovered the counterfeits of Rs 500 denomination from his possession.

Militant hideout busted in Tripura
In a joint combing operation Assam Rifles and State police personnel busted a militant hideout and rescued a kidnapped person from Nutan Bazar area of South Tripura recently. An Assam Rifles statement said that eight hard-core militants of banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) were arrested in the operation.

The statement said the 48-hour operation was led by senior police and Assam Rifles officials during which they also recovered country-made guns, transistor and incriminating documents. Meanwhile, the Assam Rifles had organised a three-month-long civic action programme in the remote tribals areas of West Tripura district and imparted training to the unemployed tribal youths for making them self-reliant. The training included driving, stitching and tailoring. A large number of sewing machines and driving licences were distributed among the trainees.

S.D.Burman award to Amiya Dey
Renowned singer Amiya Mukul Dey has been selected for this year’s Sachin Dev Barman Smriti Puruskar, instituted by the Tripura Government. The Salil Krishna Debbarman Smriti Puruskar would be given to noted writer Haripada Debbarman while local Akshar Publication would receive the best publisher’s award for Bengali literature and well-known poet Karabi Debbarman would get the best publisher’s award for tribal language literatur

Bodo ultras loot bus passangers
A group of armed Bodo militants recently looted cash and jewellery worth Rs 70,000 from passengers of a Guwahati-bound bus at Karsinsa, 25 km from Itanagar, the police said.

Arunachal okays creation of new District
The Arunachal Pradesh Government has finally approved the creation of a new district to be carved out from the upper belt of the present Lower Subansiri district, State Government spokesman and Information and Public Relations Minister Takam Sanjoy said. Talking to newsmen in Itanagar, Mr. Sanjay said a formal decision to this effect was taken at the Cabinet meeting held under the chairmanship of State Chief Minister Mukut Mithi recently. The name of the new district would be Kurung-Kurmey and the headquarters would be set up at Laaying-Yangtis, he said. However, till the completion of the necessary works, activities would be carried on from Koloriang temporarily, he said.

Reintroduce the Koch-Rajbongshi Bill : Cong.
The Congress has demanded reintroduction of the Koch-Rajbongshi Bill during the current session of Parliament, to end the uncertainty over the issue. Moving a special mention in the Lok Sabha, Madhab Rajbongshi said that despite unanimous support to the move to have the community included in the Schedule List, three years have lapsed but the government has so far not introduced the Bill in Parliament. He claimed that the move was supported not only by the state government but also enjoys support of all political parties. Out of the 2.10 crore population of the State, 20 lakh belong to the Koch-Rajbongshi community.

Assam Governor bereaved
Mithilesh Kumar Sinha, a retired IPS officer and father of Assam Governor Lt Gen (Retd) S. K. Sinha, died at his residence in Patna recently after protracted illness, family sources said.