Chief Minister of Assam: Maoist menace will grow if not checked; Vehicles burnt down in Shillong; NSCN returns seized weapons;
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Whatsapp
  • Linkedin
  • Print

    • According to reports, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, on April 23, 2012, admitted that Maoist outfits have made some headway in the state and sought the Centre’s economic and technical assistance to wean away youths. Addressing a press conference Gogoi said he had apprised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the issue during the latter’s trip to Guwahati on April 20, 2012. The Maoist have made some headway and got in touch with some local organisations. They will grow take preventive steps are not taken. The Centre had recently raised an alert about growing Maoist presence in some parts of the state, mainly in the upper Assam districts of Jorhat, Sibsagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Dhemaji and Lakhimpur.1
    Meanwhile, according to reports, Meghalaya State capital Shillong was hit by a series of petrol bomb attacks with the police saying the attacks were pre-mediated. Nobody, however, was injured in the attacks. A Government vehicle belonging to the Sports and Youth Affairs department was torched by miscreants at Mawkhar. Some time later, motorcycle-borne miscreants lobbed a petrol bomb on a truck near Food Corporation of India godown at Lum Jingshai. Miscreants also lobbed a petrol bomb at the Narsingh Akhara Ashram near Garikhana around the same time. One person has been detained in connection with the attack on the Ashram. Twenty KSU activists were arrested in connection with the arson, the police said.2
    Reports noted that bringing an end to the stalemate of the last few days, the NSCN-IM returned the seized arms and ammunition of the 29 Assam Rifles. The move came following a mutual agreement arrived at in a between the group and Ceasefire Monitoring Group (CFMG) chairman Maj Gen (Retd) N George at Chumukedima. The arms and ammunition and other seized articles were handed over to the Police at Camp Hebron who in turn handed them over to the Assam Rifles after completion of necessary procedures at Manglumukh village, few kms away from the outfit’s headquarter.3

    In other developments, according to reports, suspected GNLA militants triggered an IED blast in Chokpot area of South Garo Hills following which a heavy gun battle took place there. A platoon of armed police personnel from the State battalion was returning to Tura when militants hiding in the thick jungles triggered the blast which very narrowly missed them. However, a local woman, who was passing through the area, suffered shock from the explosion.4

    Top