Assam: Army-police apprehended five ULFA-I insurgents, recovered huge cache of arms-ammunition

Guwahati, April 23: Army-police apprehended five ULFA-I insurgents. Security forces had apprehended five hardcore insurgents of banned outfit United Liberation Front of Asom – Independent (ULFA-I) in Assam’s Charaideo district along Assam-Arunachal Pradesh-Nagaland border.

Security forces on Thursday morning had recovered huge cache of arms and ammunition which were buried underground by the insurgents.

According to the reports, based on intelligence input about the movement of an insurgent group in the inter-state bordering areas, the Indian army and Assam police had jointly launched operations at the Tairai village area on Wednesday evening.

Charaideo district Superintendent of Police Anand Mishra said that, after receiving information that, five suspicious persons were holed up in the house of one Bhuvan Gogoi of Tairai village in Satianaguri area under Sapekhati police station, army and police had jointly launched an operation at the area.

“The Village was completely cordoned by late evening and a raid was conducted by Charaideo district police and army unit from Sapekhati COB of 244 Fd Rgt, wherein five hardcore insurgents of ULFA (I) have been apprehended from the house of the Bhuvan Gogoi,” the top cop said.

The apprehended insurgents were identified as Apurba Gogoi alias Arohan Asom, Simanta Gogoi alias Maina, Biraj Asom alias Yogen Gogoi, Lakshyajit Gogoi alias Dhrubo Asom and Sidhartha Gogoi alias Chinmoy Asom.

The top police official said that, they were unarmed when apprehended and today huge cache of arms and ammunition and other items were recovered which were buried underground by the insurgents from around 200 meters away from the house where they were hiding.

Security personnel had recovered three MQ 81 Assault Rifles, eight magazines of MQ 81, 323 rounds MQ 81 ammunition, one 7.65 mm pistol (Russian made) with magazine, one 0.22 mm pistol (Factory made) with a magazine, two rounds 0.22 ammunition, two rounds 7.65mm ammunition, 2 kg gelatine like explosive material, three meters (seven pieces) cortex, 16 detonators, ULFA-I uniforms, many other daily use items, medicines, and other warlike stores.

The top police official said that, Apurba Gogoi alias Arohan Asom, Simanta Gogoi alias Maina are most wanted insurgents and they are known as IED experts.

“Both of them have been wanted in a series of cases in Sivasagar, Charaideo districts since 2012. Other than numerous kidnappings, murders and extortion cases, they were involved in sensational cases of firing upon Kanubari Tea Factory, firing upon Sapekhati petrol pump, the kidnapping of Timon Habi Tea Estate Manager and the latest being the Republic Day bomb blast in Teok Ghat area under Sonari police station,” the Charaideo district SP said.

All the nabbed insurgents have been sanitized and are being put to medical scanning and COVID-19 tests too.

This capture should be a big blow to the presence and activities of ULFA-I in the area and with this operation, Charaideo district police have intensified their ‘Sanitization Drive’ against insurgency in the area.

Assam CM Sonowal visits LPG Bottling Plant at Bijaynagar and asks IOCL functionary for uninterrupted supply of LPG:

Guwahati, April 22: Amid spurt of novel coronavirus positive cases in the country as well as in the state and subsequent lockdown throughout the nation, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal visits LPG Bottling Plant at Bijaynagar in Kamrup District and took stock of the installed capacity of the bottling plant to meet the daily requirement of cylinders.

Sonowal visited the plant, took stock of its capacity, and requested its concerned functionaries to ensure an uninterrupted supply of LPG to all households in the backdrop of coronavirus induced lockdown.

During a brief meeting with the senior officers of the IOCL in the plant premises, Sonowal while enquiring about the daily capacity of the IOCL and the Indane LPG Bottling Plant at Sara para respectively, he was appraised that in Assam, IOCL is filling approximately 1,70,112 cylinders during lockdown period which is up from its usual capacity of around 1,63,000 cylinders per day.

They also informed the Assam Chief Minister that the increased output has been necessitated because of the additional man-hour being rendered by its employees.

It may be noted that Indane LPG Bottling Plant at Sara para post COVID-19, empowering its installed capacity is filling 16910 cylinder as against 14085 which it fills on normal working days. They assured the Assam Chief Minister that there will be no shortages LPG cylinder in the state during and after the lockdown period.

Sonowal thanked the functionaries of all levels of IOCL for their grit shown during the lockdown period which manifested in the uninterrupted supply of LPG cylinders to all households. He also assured that the government would fulfill the demand of the plant seeking an additional plot of land for its operations.

The Assam Chief Minister also interacted with the workers engaged in the bottling plant. and hailed their dutifulness and commitment.

Sonowal reiterated his government’s commitment to make available all the basic requirements of the people during the lockdown period. He also thanked Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and

Guwahati Development Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya, MLAs Pranab Kalita, Bimal Bora, and senior officers of IOCL were present during the chief Minister’s visit to the plant.

Assam: Two brothers killed by angry villagers after being released from jail amid COVID-19 outbreak

Guwahati, April 22: In a shocking incident, two brothers killed by angry villagers in Assam Baksa district who were released from jail recently in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, were beaten to death in their native village on Wednesday.

The incident took place at Athiabari village near the Simaluguri area in Baksa district where some local villagers allegedly killed two brothers.

Baksa district Superintendent of Police (SP) Thube Prateek Vijay Kumar said that, it is village enmity and two brothers were involved in various crimes in the area.

The deceased persons were identified as Biswajit Das and Haradhan Das and they were released from jail recently following the Supreme Court directive to decongest the prisons in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to the reports, two brothers spent several months in jail for their involvement in heinous crimes such as robbery, extortion, etc.

After releasing from jail, two brothers were staying at relative home and returned to their native village on Wednesday morning and a scuffle broke out between them and some villagers.

Following it, some angry villagers killed them.

A police official of Baksa district said that, the main reason behind the incident is yet to be known.

“Two brothers were sent to jail one and half month before for their involvement in various crimes. When they returned to their home today, some villagers had attacked them and both died on spot. Our investigation is going on,” the police official said.

Following the incident, a case was registered at Gobardhana police station in connection with the incident.

The Baksa district SP said that, police have arrested few persons, and operation is going to nab others who were involved in the incident.

Assam ordered 1 lakh rapid testing kits, but yet not taken: Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Guwahati, April 22: With 53 journalists from Mumbai tested positive for COVID-19, the Assam government on Wednesday announced that, they will test journalists for the infection.

Assam Health Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma said that, the state government will conduct COVID-19 tests on journalists and it will be free.

“The state of Assam, government will test journalists for COVID-19 on April 25 at Guwahati Medical College Hospital and those journalists want to test themselves they will be allowed for it,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

On the other hand, reacting to the controversy over the Chinese rapid testing kits, the Assam Health minister said that, the Assam government has suspended rapid antibody tests for two days because of the advisory issued of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

“We have ordered 1 lakh rapid testing kits and have not taken a position of it. The Union government has given 9600 rapid testing kits to Assam. We have not received any official communication, but based on media reports, we are keeping it on hold. We have asked our supplier not to supply it till things are cleared by ICMR. We are keeping hold everything, but 1 lakh testing kits are about to be delivered, but it is in supplier position, not our position,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

He also said that, the state has now 3338 isolation beds, 440 ICU facilities, 10,061 quarantine facility, about 2 lakh PPE kits, 86,000 N95 masks, and 70 lakh triple layer masks.

“The state government has already provided three triple layer masks each to the tea garden laborers,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Assam government to allow inter-district movement for three days by following MHA guidelines

Guwahati, April 22:  In a relief to the people who stuck in different places of the state, the Assam government has decided to allow inter-district movement for three days from April 25.

Assam Health Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said that, the state government has decided to allow inter-district movement for a window period of three days subject to the Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines.

Addressing a press conference held in Guwahati, the Assam Health minister said that, from April 25 to April 27, people will be allowed to commute back to their respective places and the state government has decided by following the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

“The people who have own vehicles stuck in different districts due to the novel Coronavirus lockdown, they can apply for the e-pass to the respective district Deputy Commissioners. The patient will be allowed to visit government hospitals for treatment and they should also have to apply for e-pass and it will be continued,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

“From April 25, the inter-district movement will be felicitated for the patients and the government will take strict action against those vehicles plying on roads with the e-passes issued for patients but without a patient on board,” the Assam Health minister said.

He further said that, the Assam government will arrange few buses of the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) for the window period for the people without vehicle or transport means.

“The buses will ply on designated routes and such people will have to call 104. Apart from it, the migrant workers will also be allowed to commute within three days period and the maximum 25 migrant workers will be allowed to travel in one truck or bus,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The Assam Health minister also said that the state has reported 34 positive cases for COVID-19 so far and 19 patients were discharged from hospitals and one patient was died.

“No new COVID-19 positive case has been detected in the state in the last seven days,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

He also said that, a total of 5789 swab samples have been tested so far and 214 test results are awaited.

Coronavirus: Assam government cuts private school fees by 50 percent

Guwahati, April 22: Assam government cuts private school fees by 50 percent. In the wake of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Assam government on Wednesday instructed all private schools of the state to reduce fees for the month of March by 50 percent.

Issuing an order by the Assam Secondary Education department said that, every educational institution established and run by an association of individuals or society or trusts etc to waive 50 percent of their monthly school/college fees exclusively meant for the month of April to the students studying any class from pre-primary to Class 12.

“The educational institutions who have already collected the fees meant for the month of April will adjust the concession in the next installment. During the present pandemic there can’t be any increase in school fees. There can’t be any curtailment in the salary of teaching and non-teaching staff,” the government order stated.

Assam Education Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma said that, if any educational institution is found violate the instructions, then the government will close down the institution under the Disaster Management Act.

“No school will be allowed to increase fees without prior approval of the government. At the same time, no private school will cut the salary of teachers and their staff,” Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Coronavirus: Sonowal orders strict screening of truck drivers entering Assam.

Guwahati, April 22: Strict screening on Assam Border of Truck Drivers. Given the possibility of COVID-19 entering through interstate borders, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal directed the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and Superintendents of Police (SPs) of Kokrajhar and Dhubri district to strictly screen the incoming truck drivers and their associates at Boxirhat and Srirampur gates for Coronavirus symptoms.

Other than Strict screening on Assam Border of truck drivers, the Assam Chief Minister directed them to create adequate awareness at the border villages so that people could report any people endeavoring to sneak into Assam during the lockdown period while reviewed the current situation with the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and Superintendents of Police (SPs) of all districts of the state through video conferencing at his conference hall at Janata Bhawan in Guwahati on Tuesday evening.

He took stock of the situation arising out of relaxation guidelines issued by the state government for certain sectors during the extended lockdown period.

District officials of Agriculture, Veterinary, Industry, and Fishery departments along with Zila Parishad were also present in the meeting.

Directing the DCs to ensure that no irregularity takes place in selecting the beneficiaries for the scheme of the state government to give Rs 1000 to those people who do not possess NFSA cards, Sonowal asked the DCs and SPs to take stringent action against anyone involved in embezzling of public fund meant for poor section.

He also directed for transparent and strict implementation of the scheme to provide five kg rice to the beneficiaries falling out of the ambit of the NFSA cards.

“This was a very important season for the farmers of the state for cultivation activities, Sonowal said that as farming activities have been exempted from lockdown DCs must ensure that farmers do not face any difficulties like police action,” Sonowal said.

He also directed the District Agriculture Officers to monitor the usage of tractors provided under CMSGUY and instructed them to ensure that these tractors are only used for farming activities.

Sonowal issued instruction for maintaining social distancing norms in tea gardens and their factories and directed DCs to ask tea garden management to keep the screening facilities for outsiders visiting for mechanical works in the factories or for supplying spare parts for the machines. He also asked the districts to look after the difficulties faced by small tea growers and facilitate their movements.

The Assam Chief Minister asked the veterinary department to keep a check on the prices of the cattle feeds and take steps for vaccination of animals at the doorsteps of farmers.

He directed the fishery department to look into the problems faced by fishery owners during the lockdown period and provide them market access for selling fishes. Similarly the Agriculture department was also directed to ensure that farmers’ produce does not get wasted and bridge the gap between the purchasers and farmers.

The Assam Chief Minister also directed the DCs to interact over the phone with eminent personalities and leading citizens of their districts and seek their feedback and suggestions about the various measures taken by the government during the lockdown. He asked the DCs to call Gaonburhas, ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, and SHGs and said that such a step would go a long way in bringing the people closer to the administration.

He appreciated the role played by DCs along with health, police, power department, PHED, etc in this fight against COVID-19.

Assam has reported 34 positive cases for COVID-19 so far and one died due to the dreaded virus and 19 COVID-19 patients were discharged from the hospitals.

A tea garden laborer killed, another injured in wild boar attack in Assam’s Karimganj:

Guwahati, April 22: Tea garden laborer killed in Assam. A 53-year-old tea garden laborer was killed and another injured in wild boar attack in Assam’s Karimganj district.

The incident took place at the Sephinjuri Bheel tea garden area under Patharkandi assembly constituency on Tuesday evening where a wild boar attacked the persons.

According to the reports, the wild boar attacked the persons while they were going to the jungle area near the tea garden.

The Tea garden laborer killed in Assam, died on the spot and another sustained serious injuries in the wild boar attack.

The deceased person was identified as 53-year-old Ramdhani Gaur and the injured person was identified as 30-year-old Ashwini Balmik Das.

Locals said that, the wild boar attacked the 53-year-old man multiple times and he started bleeding excessively.

Following the incident, locals rushed to the spot and recovered the body of the older man and immediately informed local police and forest officials.

The injured person was rushed to a nearby hospital.

A government official said that, the 53-year-old person was died on spot and another person received severe injuries.

The body of the deceased person was sent for post-mortem to Karimganj civil hospital.

On the other hand, local MLA Krishnendu Paul had also reached the spot and met the deceased person’s family and the MLA donated Rs 10,000 to the family.