BADARPUR, Dec 1 - Tardy progress in the construction of the railway bridge over the Barak river at Badarpur Ghat has been widely resented by the conscious section of taxpayers here.
Though the 11 pillars of the bridge have been completed, preliminary work for which began in October 2002, construction of the super structure is still pending. It has been gathered that the NF Railway authority had resolved to entrust the task to Rahi Construction Company and start work in January 2010. However, the reason behind the inordinate delay is yet to be officially ascertained.
Talking to this Correspondent, the deputy engineer of Silchar Railway Construction Department, MK Pande said, “work on the girders will start shortly”.
It may be pertinent to mention here that the 409.08 metre bridge, which on completion will be the longest span between the Lumding-Badarpur hill section, will be the main connecting line of entire Barak Valley, including Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram. The foundation stone of this No. 572 Barak railway bridge was laid on May 19, 2002. During the first phase the railway authority sanctioned an amount of Rs 29.13 crores for the project.
On another front, progress of the broadgauge line construction work between Lumding-Badarpur hill section too has been unsatisfactory, except for a few culverts, bridges and a half-done tunnel. In the Silchar-Haflong section too, work on bridge No. 129 has not yet started due to non-receipt of official approval from the State Forest Department, deputy engineer Pande disclosed, while citing reasons for delay in completion of the projects.
TIMES NOW has learnt of government money being channelised to terrorist organisations through government channels in Assam.
A Comptroller and Auditor General report available with TIMES NOW shows the state government released Rs. 274 crores extra between 2007 and 2009 through North Cachar Hills Council, that eventually reached terrorist outfit DHD, also known as Black Widows.
Even the CBI and NIA probing the money trail have shown a clear link chargesheeting former chief of the Hills Council, Mohit Hojai along with DHD chief Jewel Gorlosa.
JHAPA: Mahesh Ghimire whose name was listed among three Nepalis killed in Assam of India has not been murdered, according to his family members.
Mahesh of Mechinagar-1, who was kidnapped in the Indian city two months ago, is still alive, his wife told RSS after returning from Assam today. "The kidnappers have kept him in an unknown place, but he is in safe condition."
According to family members, the gang behind Mahesh's abduction has demanded IRs. 500,000 ransom for his release.
When asked what police are doing, Superintendent of Police Rabindra Sharma said, "Efforts to release him are underway in coordination with Indian police."
Guwahati, Nov 30 (IANS) Assam's main opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is bitterly divided on the issue of granting amnesty to jailed separatists as a party MP Tuesday opposed the proposal made by his colleague.
Former chief minister and senior AGP leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has demanded a 'general amnesty' for all the jailed separatist leaders in Assam.
Mahanta told reporters Monday: 'The government should grant general amnesty to all jailed leaders and also to those who are outside with a view to bringing all of them to the negotiating table.'
On Tuesday, senior AGP leaders rejected Mahanta's proposal, saying such an act would be suicidal.
'If those militant leaders who were involved in the killing of innocent civilians are pardoned and general amnesty granted, it would be an insult to the families who lost their dear ones,' AGP MP in the Lok Sabha Joseph Toppo told journalists Tuesday.
Toppo questioned Mahanta's proposal, saying the jailed rebels should be tried in courts.
'Let the court decide whether the militant leaders were guilty or not and it would be totally unfair on the part of the government to grant general amnesty without proper trial,' Toppo said.
The jailed rebel leaders include chairman of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) Arabinda Rajkhowa and chairman of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) Ranjan Daimary.
The ULFA chief was accused of mass murder - related to killing of 14 people during a bombing at an Independence Day parade function in 2005, in Dhemaji town.
The NDFB chairman was charge-sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation as the main accused in the Oct 30, 2008 serial bombings in Guwahati in which about 100 people lost their lives and more than 500 were injured.
'We want those involved in the killings to be punished. They should not be allowed to go scot free in the name of holding peace talks,' said a senior Congress leader who refused to be named.
New Delhi, Nov 30 (PTI): Government today ruled out revoking the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from "some" of the North-Eastern states in the wake of the security situation there.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Mullappally Ramachandran stated this in reply to a question in Lok Sabha.
The members of the House had asked whether the government was contemplating withdrawing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from North-Eastern states including Manipur.
"No, Madam. In view of security situation in some of the NE states, it is necessary that the Act continues to be in force," the Minister said.
There have been demands from various quarters in the North-East for the withdrawal of the Act.
GUWAHATI, Nov 30 – Leading peasants’ organisation Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) today claimed that Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is involved in the multi-crore NC Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) scam. Besides, it has demanded resignation of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Gautam Roy for their involvement in the scam.
The Chief Minister is fully aware of the involvement of Himanta Biswa Sarma, Gautam Roy and Kharsingh Ingty in the scam. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had named Sarma and Roy in its initial report but that report has been hushed up. The Chief Minister is aware of all these things.
But, as, he has received a part of the money these three Ministers looted from the NCHAC funds, so, he is trying to cover up the issue, alleged the peasants’ organisation.
Addressing a press conference here today, KMSS secretary Akhil Gogoi argued that the Chief Minister himself admitted on September 25 last that he had received the copy of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG’s) report on the special audit of the NCHAC finance. But, later on, he started denying his receiving any such report.
Akhil Gogoi cited newspaper report that the Chief Minister had received the CAG special audit report on August 23. The CAG conducted the special audit for a period of 26 months and 12 days, between 2007-08 fiscal and June 12, 2009. The special audit revealed that an amount of Rs 424.04 crore was released to the NCHAC, against an allocation of Rs 151.40 crore during the period.
Interestingly, there was no supplementary budget provision for this excess amount released to the Hills district council, Akhil Gogoi said referring to the observation made by the CAG in its report. This, he claimed hints to another Letter of Credit (LoC) scam.
He dared Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to make a public statement within the next seven days that NC Hills scamster RH Khan is not known to him, he has not received any amount of money from Khan through Himanta Biswa Sarma, he has not received the report of the CAG special audit and the names of Himanta Biswa Sarma and Gautam Roy did not feature in the NIA initial report.
GUWAHATI, Nov 30 – The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) today asked Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to resign from his post taking moral responsibility of the unprecedented fund anomalies in the NC Hills district.
The AGP also alleged the involvement of the Chief Minister in the multi-crore-rupees scam.
The party leader Chandra Mohan Patowary presented before the media some parts of the special inspection report of the CAG covering 26 months from the year 2007-08 to June 12, 2009 in the hills district. The contents of the audit report shows that excess fund over budgetary provisions were released by the State Government to the autonomous council. Significantly, the audit report covers only eight out of the total 30 departments of the autonomous council.
According to the Finance Department of the State Government, Rs 151 crore, Rs 40 lakh and Rs 11 thousand were released to the Council’s eight departments within the 26 months. But the audit team has found that Rs 424 crore 4 lakh 43 thousand has been released by the State government, which is Rs 272 crore 64 lakh and 23 thousand more than the account presented by the Government.
“There was nothing on record to show whether any supplementary grant was provided or any re-appropriation was made. Reasons for release of excess fund by the State government over the budgetary provisions were fraught with the risk of mis-utilization/misappropriation of the fund,” the report mentioned.
“If such large-scale fund irregularity can take place within a short span in just eight departments, the magnitude of the scam would be certainly shocking from the year 2001 till date,” Patowary said.
“Moreover, if such audit of all the districts is done thoroughly, it would definitely bring forth the real face of the State Government, which propagates itself as a development-oriented government,” he added.
“Since Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is also in charge of the Finance Department of the State, such a big misappropriation cannot take place without his knowledge. Thus, there is every reason to conclude that he is also deeply involved in the whole episode,” he further added.
The AGP also alleged that despite having the report, the State Government neither replied to the CAG nor did it take up the matter with the council, which speaks volumes about its intent. The money to be spent for development of the State and its people was swindled by the government and its ministers.
“Though the Rs 1,000-crore scam in NC Hills district was widely publicized, the Government, especially the Chief Minister, insisted that such a big amount was never released for the Council. Now that there are definite proofs of the scam, Tarun Gogoi should resign immediately,” said Patowary.
Guwahati, Nov 29 (IANS) The ruling Congress party and its coalition partner Bodoland People's Front (BPF) would put up candidates against each other in next year's elections to the Assam assembly although it would be a 'friendly contest'.
'We would be fielding our candidates in the Bodo heartland and same time the BPF would also be putting up their own candidates, but then it would be a friendly contest and our intention is to win the elections jointly,' senior Congress leader and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told IANS.
The Congress and the BPF have been election allies for the past two terms of the assembly. Elections are due in Assam in the next three to four months.
The BPF has 10 legislators in the 126-member house. The party has a strong political hold in the Bodo-dominated areas in western and northern Assam.
'As a national political party, we have to put up candidates in the Bodoland area, but then we would see to it that either of our candidates wins the polls,' Sarma said.
The BPF too is not averse to the idea of 'friendly fights'.
'We have absolutely no problems and are sure there would be no clash of interests in so far as winning the seats is concerned,' BPF chief Hagrama Mohilary said.
At a time when the Congress is eyeing for a hattrick, the opposition continues to be fractured - the two main opposition parties, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have snapped ties and are fighting the polls on their own.
'In simple words, we are fighting both the AGP and the Congress party in the polls,' BJP Assam unit president Ranjit Dutta said.
The AGP had a seat sharing arrangement with the BJP in the 2009 parliamentary elections but the regional party managed to win just one of the 14 seats at stake, while the BJP grabbed four seats. The AGP, in fact, was down from two seats in 2004 to one seat in the 2009 parliamentary elections.
'The people of Assam are in favour of a regional party to rule Assam, considering the fact that the Congress government in the past two successive terms has unleashed a reign of corruption in the state,' AGP president Chandra Mohan Patowary told IANS.
'We are talking with smaller regional parties for some kind of an understanding to fight the elections,' he added.
However, parties like the Asom United Democratic Front (AUDF) are playing the cat and mouse game.
'As of now, we are not talking of any alliance and are keen to go alone in the elections. But in politics, nothing is ruled out and we are ready to tie up with any secular party other then the BJP and the Congress,' AUDF president Badruddin Ajmal said.
'It is true that without opposition unity, the Congress party could be benefitted.'
The Congress seems unfazed.
'We are almost sure to win the elections for the third straight term as no combinations could challenge us since we worked during the last two terms for the welfare of the people,' Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said.
'Let the AGP and the BJP look for partners,' he added.
GUWAHATI, Nov 29 – The vandalism by AASU activists at several Vishal Mega Marts across the State on Thursday has not gone down well with the citizens who feel that the student body had no business to take the law into their own hands and create a situation of anarchy and chaos.
The reaction of the people interviewed by The Assam Tribune was one of unanimous resentment and condemnation. Public opinion was also found to be against the growing practice of seeking donations on the part of different organisations – often forcefully – from business houses.
Public activist Prof Deven Dutta, while condemning the vandalism in the strongest terms, said that it was totally wrong to link the issue of Assamese self-respect or sense of respect to donation.
“The Assamese identity or its sense of respect is never in donation. It was unfortunate that the AASU dragged this unnecessarily and deliberately to the issue of donation. It will also set a bad precedent and embolden all the organi-sations to seek more donations, often coercing the donor,” Prof Dutta said, adding that that the vandalism apart, no sensible Assamese would support the subtle move of the AASU to associate ‘Assamese self-respect’ with donations that would only bring a bad name for the Assamese.
Stating that exploitation by business houses who hike prices as per their sweet will was also a fact, Prof Dutta said that the practice of donation to satisfy some organizations was further aggravating the situation with the traders using the situation to their advantage.
“A major section of the business community on one hand and many organisations operating in the name of the public on the other are in reality two extortionists of two different kinds – their common victim being the common man or the consumer,” Prof Dutta said, adding that the organisations should do transparent accounts of the huge sums of money that they collect for ‘public welfare.’ “It is highly questionable how much of the collections are actually utilized for public causes,” he said.
Author and former DGP Hare Krishna Deka was of the view that the vandalism indulged in by the AASU was untenable on any ground, as none had the right to take the law into their hands. “If they had any grievance against the business house they should have registered it through peaceful demonstrations,” he said.
Deka, however, felt that the Vishal management unnecessarily complicated the situation by politicizing it and that too at a sensitive time. “If Vishal had problems with donation and wanted to raise the issue, there were other proper platforms but instead they chose to politicize and sensationalize it. The AASU was understandably irked but even then it had no right to indulge in vandalism and destruction of property,” he said, adding that the volatile situation could have landed many of the customers inside the Vishal premises in serious trouble.
Many other citizens felt that vandalism and forceful donation should have no place in any civilized society.
“Whatever may be the AASU’s grievance against Vishal, vandalism at public place and destruction of property cannot be justified under any circumstances. Moreover, since the student body by its own admission finds nothing wrong in taking donations from business houses, why is it making such a fuss over it?” Hrishikesh Saikia, a citizen said, adding that taking recourse to the plea of Assamese self-respect was in bad taste. “It was sought to be a face-saving device by the AASU but that has obviously backfired as no sensible people will support such a stance,” he added.
People who witnessed the vandalism at Vishal stores by AASU members also questioned the role of the police and paramilitary forces in ensuring proper law and order. “It was shocking to see AASU activists enter the store and indulge in open vandalism before downing the shutters in full view of the police and other security forces. There was no intervention from the law-enforcing agencies and the mayhem continued,” an eyewitness to the vandalism said, adding that the shoppers too were given a torrid time during the vandalism.
Another citizen said that by allowing such vandalism the police and the administration were sending the wrong message to everyone and that the violators of the law ought to be booked and dealt with according to law. “What the AASU did was sheer nonsense and unlawful, and even more shocking was the fact that such lawlessness was allowed under the very nose of the police and the administration,” he said.
On the issue of ‘donations’ taken by the AASU from business houses, many felt that the line between donation and extortion was getting more and blurred with more and more organizations pressurizing business houses into ‘donating’ money.
“In order to be donation, it has to come willingly and in that case it cannot be an issue. But otherwise, it will amount to extortion and it is an open secret that various organizations do indulge in forceful donations,” a citizen said
People were also of the view that the widespread practice of donation was a major reason behind the abnormal price rise in the State. “It is the common man whose cause these organizations profess to espouse that end up bearing the brunt of unwarranted donations. The business community is hardly affected as it invariably passes on the burden of donations to the common man by hiking prices,” he said.
GUWAHATI, Nov 29 – Four members of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) were arrested by the City police for indulging in acts of vandalism in the Vishal Mega Marts located in Paltan Bazar area on Thursday though they were later released on bail by the Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kamrup.
The arrested AASU members include Kusha Rongpi, Tapan Biswas, Pradeep Deka and Hitesh Sarma.
The charges against the accused were framed under Sec 120(B), 147, 148, 447, 448, 395, 436, 325, 353, 336 and 427 of the Indian Penal Code.
The accused were represented by advocate Bijon Mahajan and several other lawyers in the court. Hundreds of AASU members also thronged the court premises.
Meanwhile, the AASU has condemned the arrest of its members.
UDALGURI, ASSAM, Nov 29 : Three Nepali nationals were killed in Assam allegedly by a group of surrendered cadres of National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB).
According to police report, the police recovered a decomposed body on the bank of Kekrajuli river near Dhekiajuli under Dhekiajuli police station on November 26. The deceased was later identified as Mahesh Ghimirey of Nepal.
On the other hand, two other companions of the deceased were also killed by the NDFB cadres. They were identified as Anil Pokhrel and Jhalak Shrawan Subedi, but till the filing of this report, the police have not been able to recover the bodies of the other two Nepali nationals. According to police report, the trio went missing on their way to Guwahati from Nepal.
The police during an investigation, apprehended one Bhagya Basumatary, the driver of an Indica car in which the three Nepali nationals were traveling. The police arrested another Dhaneswar Basumatary, a surrendered cadre of insurgent group, NDFB.
During the interrogation, Dhaneswar confessed the crime and said that he kidnapped the three Nepali nationals with the help of some surrendered NDFB cadres on October 28 last and killed them at Shantipur village under Dhekiajuli police station and buried them on the bank of the Kekrajuli river.
Dhaneswar also confessed during the interrogation that they looted about eight hundred thousand rupees (Rs 800,000) from the deceased and killed them by hitting on the head with an axe.
The apprehended surrendered NDFB cadre also disclosed that they were helped by some Nepali speaking villagers of Gangapur village near Dhekijuli in the kidnapping activity. The police have not identified the address of the Nepali nationals but it suspected that the nepali nationals came to Assam to buy horns of rhino. The police are still investigating into the murder.
Manan Kumar
NEW DELHI: Peace talks with the top leaders of banned United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) is on the cards and may begin in the month of January, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said here on Saturday.
Assam’s Congress-led government is keen to have peace talks with Ulfa as it is expected to favour them during the Assembly elections due next year. “I think the talks with Ulfa will start by January.
Things are going on in a positive direction,” said Gogoi adding that Centre’s interlocutor P C Haldar is on the final stages of inking modalities for talks before initiating the process.
Gogoi met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Home Minister P Chidambaram to brief them about the prevailing situation in Assam and the proposed talks.
To facilitate their participation in the peace talks, the Assam government has already decided not to oppose the bail pleas of top Ulfa leaders, including its chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, who are currently lodged in jail.
“Release of Ulfa leaders are not in our hands but in courts.
But we will not oppose their bail applications,” Gogoi said.
To instil faith in the Ulfa leadership and make the atmosphere conducive, the government did not oppose the bail plea of Ulfa’s Deputy Commander- in-Chief Raju Baruah who was released from the central jail on Saturday in Guwahati.
Raju was under arrest on account of two TADA cases and a CBI case.
“A positive atmosphere has already been created with the government not opposing our bail and we hope a respectable solution will be soon found,” Baruah said in Assam while arriving to his home in Charia in Nalbari district.
He added that Ulfa believes if the people are not involved in the talk process, there can be no permanent solution to the problem.
