Category: NORTH EAST

• ASSAM
• MANIPUR
• MEGHALAYA
• MIZORAM
• NAGALAND
• ARUNACHAL PRADESH

The deluge in Sikkim led to a large amount of military equipment, including weapons and explosives, being carried away in the Teesta River, defence officials said on Friday, urging people to be cautious.

Lt. Col. Mahendra Rawat, PRO Defence at Guwahati on Friday said, “The search for the missing Indian Army persons continues. Meanwhile, the Indian Army is providing assistance in terms of food, medical aid and is extending communication facilities to civilians and tourists stranded in North Sikkim.”

The Congress-led 10 like-minded parties bloc in Manipur on Thursday said that the "double engine governments" of the BJP at the Centre and the state had, even after five months, utterly failed to restore peace and normalcy in the state.

The Cachar police conducted a special operation in the Kalain area at the Assam-Meghalaya border in response to a tip-off and intercepted a truck, travelling from Tripura to Meghalaya via Assam, in the Kalain neighborhood.

The commission headed by its Chairman Justice Utpalendu Bikas Saha (retired) also asked the Commissioner (Home) to inform it how much interim compensation could be provided to the injured students on or before the next date of hearing of the case.

Even though the four-month long (June to September) Southwest monsoon yet to withdraw from the northeastern region, three of the eight states of the region -- Assam, Manipur and Mizoram -- witnessed deficient monsoon rainfall due to lack of rain-bearing clouds and monsoon troughs from the Bay of Bengal.

He said that on the direction of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, a special CBI team led by the agency's Special Director Ajay Bhatnagar, along with five officers, have been camping in Manipur since September 27.

The Chief Minister said the unrest was instigated by a group of people who want to disintegrate the state, but the crisis has been "made to look like" an ethnic or communal clash, or religion based, or between the "majority and minority groups".

These four districts in upper Assam have historically served as ULFA strongholds. The "disturbed areas" notification is valid for six months, after which the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) may decide to prolong it.

Kangliepak Kanba Lup (KKL), an Imphal-based civil body, which put a three-year ban on Manipuri film actor Soma Laishram, lifted the interdict on Saturday, giving a breather to the 31-year-old film star.

The protests against the killings of the two young students in Manipur took a serious turn on Thursday night as the protestors attempted to attack Chief Minister N. Biren Singh’s private residence at Heingang in Imphal East district.

The Mizoram government has decided not to collect biometrics and biographic data of Myanmarese taking shelter in the state while the Manipur government has urged the Centre to extend the time for the process in the state by a year.

The mother of a minor girl who was allegedly subjected to horrific torture by an Army Major and his wife has claimed that her daughter was being kept naked for several hours by the accused couple.

In view of the prevailing situation in strife-torn iManipur, the state government on Wednesday extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) in the entire state, excluding 19 police station areas including Imphal, for six months.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, (AFSPA) in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland for another six months beginning from October 1.

A special CBI team led by its Director will reach Imphal on Wednesday in a special flight to expedite the probe into the murder of two young students, Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said on Tuesday night.

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention into the allegations against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife Riniki Bhuyan Sharma of receiving Central government’s subsidy for setting up a food processing industry in Assam’s Nagaon district.

Four days after the lifting of internet ban in strife-torn Manipur, the state government on Tuesday once again suspended internet services for five days till October 1 following the massive students’ agitation on Tuesday in protest against the killing of two young students by unidentified assailants, officials said.

At least 34 students, including girls, were injured after hundreds of students took to the streets in Imphal on Tuesday to protest against the killing of two young students by unidentified armed assailants.

A day after announcing the suspension of the “Free Movement Regime (FMR)” with Myanmar, Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Sunday held a meeting with senior officials of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to erect border fencing along the India-Myanmar border in the state.

"A group of ULFA-I militants have made a strategy to enter Tinsukia district and spread to different areas of upper Assam. The militants are planning a major assassination attempt on the Assam Arunachal border," intelligence sources said. 

Though a very challenging task, the recovery of thousands of looted guns and ammunition is now the top priority for the authorities in ethnic violence hit Manipur as less than one third of such weapons have been recovered in the past 115 days.

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Saturday said that the ‘Free Movement Regime (FMR)” with Myanmar which allows people on either side to travel up to 16 km inside of either country is suspended at the moment and that the Centre has been requested to permanently close the FMR with the state.

In wake of a series of massive agitation for the past six days by many civil society organisations, a special NIA court here on Friday granted conditional bail to all five youths who were arrested on September 16 wearing security forces uniforms and armed with sophisticated weapons.

The leader of opposition in Assam Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, has lodged a police complaint against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his comments targeting the residence of Sonia Gandhi in the national capital, made during a public rally in Madhya Pradesh recently.