Category: GUWAHATI

According to police sources, Chetia’s wife was battling cancer and she passed away at a private hospital here. Following her death, the senior police official shot himself with his service pistol in the hospital.

In view of the heavy rain and the red alert sounded by the meteorological department for the next two days in the Lumding-Badarpur Hill section, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) on Saturday cancelled eight express trains between Silchar and other cities of Assam for Sunday.

Owing to cyclonic circulations, Assam and other states in the northeastern region are set to receive heavy rain in the next few days, weather officials said on Saturday.

At least five Congress MLAs in Assam have openly supported BJP or other party candidates in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. However, they did not leave the Congress to avoid anti-defection.

Three MPs from the northeastern states -- two from Assam and one from Arunachal Pradesh -- were on Sunday accommodated in the new government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against five in the previous government.

The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), which operates in the northeastern states and parts of West Bengal and Bihar, has taken a series of measures to ensure the smooth running of trains during the rainy season.

The BJP and its ally partners are leading on 11 Lok Sabha seats in Assam. The BJP is leading on nine seats while its allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) are leading on each seat.

Railway tracks in Silchar, New Haflong, Bandarkhal and Chandranathpur section faced damages due to waterlogging caused due to the incessant rains in the aftermath of Cyclone Remal earlier this week.

Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur along with southern Assam remained isolated for the third consecutive day on Thursday as most railway tracks remained waterlogged or damaged due to the landslides which were triggered by the incessant rains in the aftermath of Cyclone Remal, officials said.

Several northeastern states, including Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, and Assam (southern part), remained cut off from the rest of the country by rail as railway tracks were waterlogged and damaged after landslides triggered by incessant rain in the aftermath of Cyclone Remal, officials said on Wednesday. 

At least 36 people were killed in heavy rains and landslides in four northeastern states on Tuesday under the impact of Cyclone Remal while normal life came to a grinding halt in all the eight states of the region with road and rail links affected, officials said.

Most northeastern states will witness moderate to very heavy rainfall for three days from Sunday due to a severe cyclonic storm arising from a depression over the central Bay of Bengal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast on Friday. 

The Assam Police have seized drugs valued at Rs 105 crore along the inter-state border with Mizoram in Cachar district, an official said on Sunday, adding three persons were also arrested in this connection.

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) while conducting routine checking at New Jalpaiguri railway station of West Bengal recovered 10 live endangered species of turtles that were being transported illegally, officials said on Saturday.

EVMs with VVPAT machines used for the recently conducted Lok Sabha polls in Assam were kept in about 50 strongrooms across the state under strict security measures, said state Chief Election Officer Anurag Goel on Wednesday.

Several Chief Ministers and leaders from the northeastern states condemned Congress leader Sam Pitroda's remark on the 'colour of citizens' and demanded his apology.

Movement of passengers and transport of goods, including essentials, has been affected in southern Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur for the past two weeks, due to the restricted movement of trains in the region, officials said on Tuesday.

With the completion of polling in four Lok Sabha seats in Assam on Tuesday, elections in all the 25 parliamentary constituencies in the eight northeastern have been completed now.

Surface links to Assam's Barak Valley and Dima Hasao district and neighbouring states of Tripura, Mizoram, and Manipur remained snapped on Thursday as incessant rains triggered landslides and washed off roads as well as railway tracks in multiple locations of Assam, authorities said.

In view of the restricted and regulated movement of trains, including goods trains between Tripura and the rest of the country, the state government has imposed restrictions on the sale of petrol and diesel from Wednesday.

Nine persons were arrested by the police in connection with the rape of minor girls in the South West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, officials said on Sunday.

Assam has recorded 70.65 per cent voter turnout till 5 p.m. on Friday, officials said. Five Lok Sabha seats in Assam -- Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Kaziranga, Lakhimpur, and Sonitpur -- went to the polls in the first phase.

An estimated 45.12 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 1 p.m. on Friday in the five Lok Sabha seats in Assam in the first of the seven-phased Lok Sabha elections, officials said.

A relative of an executive member of Assam’s North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council (NCHAC) in Dima Hasao district was allegedly kidnapped by a proscribed group.

BJP President J. P. Nadda has asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi took decisive steps to bring peace in the Bodoland area of Assam by signing the Bodo peace accord.