Category: NORTH EAST

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

In another major drug haul in less than two weeks, Tripura police on Saturday seized 1.3 kg heroin valued at Rs 10 crore after arresting a drug peddler at Damchera in northern Tripura, adjoining Mizoram.

Tension gripped the Silsako area in Guwahati on Friday after hundreds of women showed up to oppose an eviction drive by the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA).

The officials of the Social Welfare Department, who compiled data on children staying in different relief camps, said that out of around 12,700 children, 100 are severely traumatised needing professional counselling.

Former Deputy National Security Adviser D. D. Padsalgikar, who was appointed by the Supreme Court to monitor and supervise cases handed over to CBI and those of SITs, met Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey and apprised her of the current crisis in the state.

The Assam electoral roll is currently undergoing a special summary revision by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to bring it into compliance with the state's freshly defined assembly and parliamentary seats, an official said on Friday.

The five slain people included L.S Mangboi Lhungdim, 50, who composed the song "I Gam Hilou Ham (Is this not our land?)" after the ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3. His songs became a rallying cry for tribal unity.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) on Thursday said that disregarding repeated calls by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to maintain peace, armed assailants continue to attack the tribal areas in Manipur, killing four people during the past three days.

Assam-based oncologist and a Padma Shri awardee, Ravi Kannan has been named as one of the four recipients of the 2023 Ramon Magsaysay Award, considered as Asia's Nobel Prize.

With the rising water level of the Brahmaputra and other major rivers, the flood situation in Assam has further worsened, with more than 3.4 lakh people affected across 22 districts of the state, officials said on Thursday.

Two days after the visit of Lt. Gen. R.P. Kalita, Chief of the Indian Army's Eastern Command, Lt. Gen. H.S. Sahi, General Officer Commanding (GOC), Spear Corps, visited the Red Shield Division of the Army in Manipur, defence sources said on Wednesday.

A police officer said that combined search operations continued in vulnerable areas of Kangpokpi, Thoubal, Churachandpur and Imphal West districts to recover looted arms and ammunition. 

Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday said that Northeast India has immense potential which can be explored for proper growth and development.

The CEC, after holding a series of meetings with officials and political parties since Tuesday, said anti-drug operations, actions and activities would be intensified during the election process and any kind of drug peddling activities would be dealt with firmly. 

The security forces have seized huge quantities of heroin worth Rs 15.59 crore and arrested seven drug peddlers during the past 24 hours in Mizoram and Tripura, officials said on Wednesday.

Two persons, including a village defence volunteer (VDV), were killed while seven others were injured in heavy firing between two rival groups at Narainsena in Bishnupur district on Tuesday, the police said.

The full Election Commission, led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, on Tuesday held a meeting with top Mizoram government officials and reviewed the preparedness for the state Assembly elections, due by this year end.

A senior police officer said that a team from the Garchuk police statio and a Special Operations Group jointly conducted an operation on Tuesday and seized the fake notes.

Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the death of Assam BJP leader Indrani Tahbildar, who allegedly committed suicide on August 11 after her intimate pictures went viral on social media, the state's party president Bhabesh Kalita has instructed Ministers and MLAs against addressing the media.

Deaths of people due to human-elephant conflicts is on the rise in Assam with 118 people losing their lives since last year. During the same period, as many as 29 wild elephants have died, either after being run over by trains or other reasons, including electrocution.

A criminal complaint was filed against a woman Assam Police official on Sunday for allegedly abusing and imprisoning her domestic help for several days at her home and pouring boiling water on her.

In another incident, media reports quoting the police said that unidentified attackers snatched three weapons from the security personnel guarding the residence of former Health Director K. Rajo on Sunday at Sagolband Bijoy Govinda in Imphal West district.

Septuagenarian journalist Atin Das was arrested on Friday in Assam’s Hailakandi district for referring to Mahatma Gandhi as “a spy of the British” before being released on bail, the police said.

10 tribal MLAs, including two ministers, who have been demanding separate administrations for tribals in Manipur, will boycott the Assembly session commencing August 29 citing security reasons.

Subsequently, after discussion with the district administration, officials of Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board, village authorities and the cement company executives the venue for the public hearing was shifted to nearby premises.

Various disaster response personnel continued their search operation for the second day on Thursday to recover more bodies in Mizoram’s Sairang area, where an under-construction railway bridge collapsed on Wednesday killing at least 23 people and injuring three, officials said.