Category: north-east

A 20-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by five men and the entire act was recorded on a mobile phone in the Gohpur area in Assam's Sonitpur district, police said on Saturday.

In a spillover of the ethnic violence in Manipur, members of Kuki and Meitei communities clashed in the Meghalaya capital and police have arrested 16 people in connection with the incident, officials said on Friday.

Besides, a large number of non-tribals belonging to Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities, a reasonable portion of indigenous and Hindi-speaking people live in the region with different life-styles, cultures, traditions and languages.

Article 355 is a part of emergency provisions contained in the Constitution that empowers the Centre to take all necessary steps to protect a state against internal disturbances and external aggression.

Meanwhile, in view of the prevailing situation, the Manipur government authorised all District Magistrates, Sub-Divisional Magistrates and all Executive Magistrates to issue "Shoot at sight orders" in extreme cases.

Six people who were arrested in connected to an alleged scam to the tune of Rs 105 crore in Assam's State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), were produced before a special judge court here on Thursday.

Shillong Airport is now gradually seeing more activity with more flights scheduled in the months ahead, making it another busy airport in the northeast region, while more parking bays for aircraft are on the cards, officials said here on Monday.

No fresh incidents of violence took place on Sunday in southern Manipur's Churachandpur district, which witnessed a series of violence including arsoning and vandalisation of government properties since Thursday night.

The Assam Rifles troopers, in a daring operation, on Friday rescued six civilians who were held captive reportedly by the NSCN-IM militants for ransom in Nagaland's Dimapur, and took five militants into custody, officials said.

"Actually we face high demands of tourists and depending on that we have to tweak the park opening and closing timing. This year also the park may be opened early but it will also depend on the weather situation," Gogoi added.

Pravin Togadia, the President of Antarashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP), a right-wing outfit, on Wednesday held a minority community resposible for India overtaking China as the world's most populous nation.

"The Chakmas and Hajongs were settled by the Union of India, the competent authority of the then North Eastern Frontier Agency (NEFA), from 1964 onwards and those born in the NEFA/Arunachal Pradesh are citizens of India by birth.

The newly-introduced system to recruit Agniveers in the Indian Army has witnessed a huge number of candidates in the northeastern region, including a sizable figure of female candidates this time, an official said on Tuesday.

Superintendent of Police in Dhubri, Aparna Natarajan said that based on specific input, police launched an operation on Sunday night to nab the three cadres identified as Safiqul Islam, Md.Mojahidul Mandol and Md. Badshah Seikh.

Two cadres of the anti-talks faction of the militant group, Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), were killed on Monday in Assam's Kokrajhar district during a joint operation by the police and the CRPF, an official said.

A team of Punjab Police and National Security Agency (NSA) officials arrived in Dibrugarh with the Waris Punjab De chief. A huge team of Assam Police personnel was present at the Mohanbari airport.

Legislators from local political parties in the northeastern states observed that Parliament and the Assemblies are the appropriate forum to decide on the creation of a new social relationship or same-sex marriage related issues.

After Nagaland and Meghalaya, the BJP is expanding its political and organisational base in another Christian dominated northeastern state Mizoram, where the saffron party last week for the first time swept the election to the Village Councils (VCs) under the Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC).

Following the arrest of fugitive Sikh radical Amritpal Singh, the procedures are on to shift the Waris Punjab De chief to Assam's Dibrugarh Central Jail where nine of his associates are already lodged.

The Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, is likely to visit Arunachal Pradesh in October-November this year, Chief Minister Pema Khandu said on Saturday.

"The way Assam Congress has handled this matter is sad. They ought to have established an inquiry committee and worked things out among themselves. I had believed that the Congress should be dealing with this internally," he told reporters in the national capital.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Arunachal Pradesh counterpart Pema Khandu signed the agreement in presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.

A five-member National Security Agency (NSA) team has met nine associates of fugitive Sikh radical preacher Amritpal Singh at Dibrugarh Central jail, where they have been lodged since last month.

A senior police officer in the district said on Thursday that based on a secret tip-off, a joint team of police and security forces launched an operation to foil the drug peddling attempt in the Lahorijan area of the district.

Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda on Tuesday launched a centrally-sponsored scheme to promote value addition and marketing of products made by the tribals from the northeastern region.