Sunday, September 20, 2009

Another allegation of police torture surfaces in Manipur

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mphal, Sep 20 (ANI): Another allegation of police brutality in Manipur has surfaced after family members of an NGO activist accused them of using third degree treatment.

The Manipur Police arrested Jiten Yumnam an activist of the All Manipur United Clubs Organisation (AMUCO), at the Imphal Airport on Monday.

Yumnam was reportedly on his way to Bangkok to participate in an international summit on climate change. But the state police charged him with supporting and aiding insurgency in the northeastern region.

Members of NGOs and family members of Yumnam alleged that, police have inflicted third degree torture upon him by subjecting him to electric shocks.

But the police have denied the allegations of torture.

Superintendent of Police of West Imphal, L. Keilun, denied the allegation and said there is no such attack happened on Yumnam, if there is any report then stern action would be taken against the responsible officers.

Yumnam’s wife, Kiran Mala, alleged that the police are not giving any information about the reasons for her husband’s arrest.

Meanwhile, the North East People’s Initiatives has strongly condemned the arrest of Yumnam, and demanded for his immediate release.

Earlier, in August, Manipur witnessed chaos following an alleged fake encounter of a 20-year-old youth Sanjit. (ANI)

Vice President greets people on Id-ul-Fitr

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ew Delhi, Sept 20 (ANI): Vice President Hamid Ansari today greeted the people on the occasion of Id-ul-Fitr.

In his message, Ansari said: "I offer my greetings and good wishes to all Indians, in the country and abroad, on the joyous occasion of Id-ul-Fitr that marks the end of the holy month of Ramzan. Id-ul-Fitr symbolises compassion, brotherhood and the spirit of sharing".

"May this festival fill our lives with peace, prosperity and harmony and promote fraternity among the people of our country," the Vice President added.

During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims observe a daylong fast and open it in the evening.

At the end of Ramadan, Muslims throughout the world observe a joyous three-day celebration called Id-ul-Fitr.

Id-ul-Fitr falls on the first day of Shawwal, the month, which follows Ramadan in the Islamic calendar. It is a time to give in charity to those in need, and celebrate with family and friends the completion of a month of blessings and joy. (ANI)

Trinamool announces first list for Arunachal polls

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TANAGAR: The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress has accommodated nine sitting Congress MLAs, who were denied tickets for the upcoming
Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh, in its list of 26 candidates for the October 13 Asembly elections in the north-eastern state.

On Friday night, Trinamool state unit president Kito Sora released the first list, which consists two former ministers beisdes the nine sitting legislators. "We will publish our second list soon," said Sora, who is also a sitting MLA.

The nominees were Tagung Neri (Bameng), Karya Bagang (Chayang Tajo), Tapuk Taku (Seppa East), Tani Loffa (Seppa West), T C Teli (Doimukh), Nani Ribia (Ziro-Hapoli), Nyato Rigia (Taliha), Daklo Nidak (Daporijo), Yai Mara (Likabali), Dakter Basar (Basar), Duter Padu (Aalo West), Yomto Jini (Aalo East), Tako Puning (Mechuka), Tsepa Wangchuk Khumpa (Tuting-Yingkiong), Tadom Mibang (Pangin), Olom Panyang (Mariyang-Geku), Jomin Tayeng (Dambuk), Laeta Umbrey (Roing), Chinakong Namchoom (Chowkham), Chow Pingthika Namchoom (Namsai), Mayong Maio (Bordumsa-Diyun), Wangnia Pongte (Changlang North), Khamthok Lowang (Khonsa East), Thajam Aboh (Khonsa West), Gabriel D Wangsu (Kanubari) and Kahfa Bengia (Koloriang).

While Teli and Bengia are former Congress ministers, Loffa, Ribia, Rigia, Nidak, Umbrey, Namchoom, Pongte, Lowang and Aboh are sitting MLAs.

Bangladeshis try to sneak into Meghalaya, again

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HILLONG: Border Security Force (BSF) personnel on Friday evening opened fire to foil an attempt by Bangladeshi nationals to steal boulders from
Meghalaya close to the Indo-Bangla border.

"Around 6.30 pm, the night ambush party of the BSF's border out post Naljuri ex-1st Bn in Jaintia Hills saw some Bangladeshi nationals near the Rangpani River. The border guards asked them to stop digging of stones and boulders and go back to their territory immediately. But the Bangladeshi nationals did not stop, prompting the BSF men to fire," a senior official in the Assam and Meghalaya Frontier headquarters of the BSF here said.

"On hearing the gunshots, the intruders ran towards the Bangladeshi territory. The night ambush party cordoned off the area and launched a massive manhunt. They found a country-made boat from the river inside the Indian territory. No casualty was reported," the official said.

According to a BSF statement, troops of Assam and Meghalaya Frontier have intensified operations along the Indo-Bangla border to check trans-border movement and anti-India activities.

Incidentally, there have been reports of random incursion by Bangladeshi nationals reportedly backed by Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) into Indian territory in Meghalaya for stealing stones. Two such incursions took place over the past week along the international border. The stolen boulders are in huge demand in the neighbouring country for construction work.

Over 50 Bangladeshi miscreants came in boats inside India to pilfer boulders near Bholaganj on Saturday last. They threw stones at a BSF patrol party. Two jawans were injured in the attack.

BSF inspector general (Assam and Meghalaya Frontier) Prithvi Raj said BSF had fired around six rounds in the air to disperse them. BSF also lodged a protest with the BDR over the incident.

After Raj Bhavan, rebels target minister's house

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MPHAL: Barely 12 hours after militants tried to blow up the Manipur Governor House by driving into the Raj Bhavan in a Maruti 800 rigged with
explosives, rebels launched rocket attacks at the residence of consumer affairs and public distribution Y Erabot in Imphal late on Friday night.

Tension gripped the Khurai Ahongei area near Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital in Imphal East after militants hurled three lathod bombs at Erabot's residence around 11.45 pm. While one of the bombs exploded on the top floor of the house, the other two missed the target and fell inside a pond. No one was injured in the blast.

The minister was in a room on the first floor of the three-storey building when the attack took place, sources said, adding that the bombs were fired from the rear side of the house. Additional security forces were rushed to the spot.

Police have launched a massive manhunt to nab the attackers. No rebel group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

In the meantime, foolproof security arrangements have been made in and around the Raj Bhavan after the militants
tried to blow it up on Friday afternoon. Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh met Governor Gurbachan Jagat to asses the security situation.

Fighters from the banned Kangleipak Communist Party, Military Council (KCP-MC) had parked a Maruti 800 fitted with a 25-kg IED inside the Governor's House around 12.30 pm. Timely detection of the explosive had averted a major disaster.

Four Manipur Police commandos, who were on duty at the Raj Bhavan, have been suspended after the incident. "We have also deployed more se-curity personnel at the Raj Bhavan. Scanning of all vehicles has been made mandatory before being allowed to move inside," a senior police officer said.

The Maruti 800, rigged with explosives, stood less than 100 metres from the Governor's office for an entire hour before the securitymen spotted it.

The security lapse left officials fumbling for answers. Kangleipak Communist Party-Military Council (KCP-MC) had claimed responsibility for the bid on the Governor's life, calling him a "mastermind of state terror-ism".

The militants had posed as social activists to get an appointment with Jagat, who has been readily meeting NGO workers ever since the fake encounter killings rocked the state on July 23. How the militants made it past two checkpoints manned by state police and CRPF is a mystery.

They came in two cars around 12.30 pm, parked one and left in the other, without meeting the Governor.

"We have stepped up security and frisking at all strategic points of Imphal," the police officer said. Three persons have so far been picked up for interrogation.

The explosive that was set off at a safer place at Pangei here was an IED, he said, adding that the militants had planned to trigger the blast by dialling two mobile phones that were inside the car along with the bombs. Sources said the registration number embossed on the car was a forged one.

Attacks on residences of VVIPs are shockingly common in Manipur. In December last year, militants lobbed two grenades at the Raj Bhavan. Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh's office-cum-bungalow has been attacked twice in the last two years. In March 2007, underground activists triggered a grenade explosion inside the Manipur Assembly complex. Even the Babupara VIP Colony, which is close to the CM's bungalow, has come under bomb attack.

After last year's rebel attack on Raj Bhavan, the entire security deployment had been re-assessed and enhanced. Subsequently, more floodlights were put up in and around the place and the height of its compound wall was raised in addition to install closed-circuit television cameras.

Poachers gun down elephant near Kaziranga

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UWAHATI: Poachers have gunned down an elephant and chopped off its tusks and trunk in Assam's Karbi Anglong district on the southern banks of
the Brahmaputra near the Kaziranga National Park.

Forest officials found the carcass of the jumbo, with the mark of a bullet wound on its head, on Saturday. According to sources, the elephant might have been killed about "two days ago". A machete, belonging to a particular tribal group, was found in the area that lies between Panbari Reserve Forest near Kaziranga and Dalamara forest range in Karbi Anglong. Incidentally, elephants often use Panbari as a corridor to move between Kaziranga and Karbi Anglong.

"The injury marks showed that a rifle was used to kill the jumbo. And, in all probability, the poachers used the machete to cut off its trunk. They have killed the elephant in a gruesome manner," said Garga Mohan Das, project officer of WWF-India's Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Landscape Conservation Programme.

"This is very very worrying. We fear that the gang of poachers, who killed the elephant, might also target jumbos in Panbari and its adjoining areas," he added.

Honourary wildlife warden (Golaghat) Arup Goswami said it would be very difficult to save the elephants, rhinos and tigers in the area if the government does not construct a foolproof security network.

"Most of the animals are killed in transit between Kaziranga and Karbi Anglong.We aren't worried about the security of animals living in the protected areas like Kaziranga. Our concern is what happens to them once they go out of such areas. In fact, the poachers lie in wait for animals moving out of Kaziranga," he added.

Though elephants are frequently injured during conflicts with human beings in Golaghat and adjoining Karbi Anglong, forest officials said poaching of jumbos is a rare incidence. The last time an elephant was killed by poachers in the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape was around two years ago.

In fact, Golaghat and the adjoining areas of Karbi Anglong have emerged as one of the most intense man-elephant conflict zones. People often use firearms to chase away herds of wild pachyderms, increasing the risk of them succumbing to bullet wounds.

Till recent years, elephants used to pass through the Panbari Reserve Forest in Golaghat to Karbi Anglong and Nagaland without any disturbance. But the situation is no more the same. The entire route, which traditionally covered areas like Panjir Pahar, Kakokchang, Deothar, and up to Nambor-Garampani and Lengrapahar, is in a shambles owing to endless encroachment and relentless deforestation.

In last five years, the Panbari Reserve Forest has seen stone excavation and tree-felling at a hectic pace.

Guiding' sharpshooters into rhino den

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UWAHATI: He never imagined that a guided tour of rhino dens could fetch him so much of money. For Balak Sing Teron, Rs 9,000 earned in one day
is an "astronomical sum". And that too, for chaperoning a few trigger-happy sharpshooters to the one-horned wonders of Kaziranga National Park on just five occasions. Never mind that the armed men managed to gun down rhinos twice. Ensuring the animals' safety wasn't part of the "deal".

But Balak, a youth from Nutun Danga village of Nagaon, is now a reformed man. After much persuasion by forest department officials as well as fellow villagers, he surrendered last year and has stopped helping poachers ever since. However, the lure remains for other villagers. Hamlets around the Burapahar range of Kaziranga are notorious for rhino poaching. And forest officials admit that acute poverty is one of the major reasons why villagemen are agreeing to help poachers from outside in killing rhinos in exchange of a few thousands of rupees.

A forest official said, "The sharpshooters are not locals. People from adjoining villages of Kaziranga hardly kill rhinos. Rather, they are used by poachers from Karbi Anglong district, Nagaland and Manipur as guides. Poverty makes locals more susceptible to the job, which earns them better money than they would have otherwise got."

Balak said he had met three Paite hunters from Manipur's Churachandpur district in 2007. "They (hunters) told me that they wanted to hunt a rhino, and asked me to help them. They instantly offered me Rs 500 as advance, and promised more once the mission was accomplished," he admitted, adding, "After five attempts, the hunters successfully shot down rhinos two times during 2007. I was then paid a total of Rs 9,000 for helping them as a guide." The Kaziranga National Park has about 2048 one-horned rhinos at present.

"With Rs 9,000, I fed my elderly father and mother for the entire year. But now I have realized that it is better to do some other job to run the family than earn money through illegal means," he said.

In recent times, many poachers as well as villagers who had connived with poachers to killing rhinos surrendered to the forest department. Along with Balak, 19-year-old Rajen Kiling Songsing Teron, another guide', had also surrendered. "We have increased pressure on villagers so that they don't allow anybody to help rhino poachers. We have also successfully tightened our grasp around Burapahar," another forest official said.

In July this year, a major poaching attempt by a four-member hunter gang had been foiled at Burapahar. Officials said the gang had sneaked into the sanctuary without any local guide to help them. Four rhinos have been killed by poachers, while 11 attempts have been foiled by armed Kaziranga guards between January and August this year.

Tiger found dead outside Kaziranga

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UWAHATI: A tiger was found dead outside the Kohra forest range of Kaziranga on Saturday, sparking suspicions of revenge killing by angry
residents of adjoining villages. With this, the big cat death toll in the national park rose to three this year.

The carcass was spotted beyond the park boundary, near an upcoming resort in the Mohpara area. The tiger was aged between seven and eight and may have died around two days ago. Forest officials ruled out a poaching bid, for the corpse had not been mutilated and no organs were missing. "We found the ninth rib of the tiger broken and partially calcified. We are waiting for the report on the exact cause of death," said Kaziranga divisional forest officer D D Gogoi.

Over the past week, tigers have frequently lifted livestock from the villages outside Kaziranga, with a tiger killing a domestic pig in the park's Sildubi area on Saturday itself. This has given credence to the perception that the animal had died in a revenge attack.

Forest officials also hinted that it might have been killed by a rhino. In fact, a few days ago, a big cat had attacked a rhino calf in the Bagmari area of Kaziranga, they recalled. "Probably, the tiger suffered grievous injuries in the attack by a rhino while attempting to kill the calf. One of its ribs has been found broken. But until we get the post-mortem report, it is difficult to say how it really died," a forest official said.

Veterinarians from the Bokakhat-based Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) conducted the post-mortem and collected samples from the carcass for further tests. "The preliminary findings indicate that the tiger might have died of infection following the fracture of the ninth rib on the right side. The infection also spread to the lungs and has showed the development of emphysema. Emphysema is a chronic respiratory disease caused by over-inflation of the air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs. It declines lung function and causes breathlessness," said CWRC veterinarian Phulmoni Gogoi, who conducted the post-mortem.

In all, 12 tigers have died in Kaziranga since November 2008 something which has prompted the state government to start the process of setting up tiger foundations. The aim is to ensure foolproof protection for big cats. Though the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau did not find direct involvement of poachers in those tiger deaths, wildlife conservationists warned that it was only a matter of time tiger poaching becomes a serious issue like the hunting of rhinos.

Frequent cases of tigers straying out of the park area to prey on livestock has not only heightened their
vulnerability as far as revenge killings are concerned, but have also increased the risk of tiger poaching. Unlike rhinos, it is difficult for poachers to kill tigers inside Kaziranga as 65 per cent of the 430 sq km area is grassland. However, wildlife crime experts have said the big cats can easily be targeted when they stray out into human settlements.

Sources said tigers usually land up in poachers' hands once they stray into human habitation, particularly on the hundreds of big and small islands between Orang National Park on the northern bank and Kaziranga National Park on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra. Tigers killed outside the protected area hardly get noticed or recorded, and their bodies ultimately end up with illegal traders of wildlife parts, sources added.

Target pimps not sex workers: MHA

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oncerned at the way police gun for the victims of human trafficking, sex workers, the Ministry of Home Affairs has told states to book pimps, brothel-owners and men who pay for sex.

In two advisories — that aim to lay down norms for the states to improve handling cases of human trafficking — the ministry has pulled up states for the way they handle violence against women and told them to take steps to end “honour killings”.

“The Centre and the states are going to intensify steps against human trafficking and crime against women,” Ajay Maken, Minister of State for Home Affairs, said on Saturday.

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram had already ordered strengthening the anti-trafficking cell at MHA.

“Despite several steps being taken ... the picture is still very grim ... Complaints are still being received regarding non-registration of FIRs and unsympathetic attitude of police ... towards rape victims and victims of violence,” a MHA advisory to the states said.

NCP, TC shadows of Congress : Modi

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CP and Trinamool Congress in Arunachal Pradesh are but shadows of Congress, while BJP is the 'real' non-Congress party, BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said on Saturday.

BJP is the real non-Congress party fighting for uprooting Congress, which, he said, has become synonymous with corruption and price rise.

Whenever Congress came to power there was escalation in prices of rice, pulses and other essential items. During the A.B Vajpayee rule at the Centre the prices of sugar and rice was less than half of what it is now, Modi, who is also the deputy chief Minister of Bihar, told an election rally here.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the people had remained poor though the state was endowed with large natural resources as thousands of crores of rupees the Centre had granted during the long tenure of the Congress had been 'looted'.

States like Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh or Karnataka which are under BJP are progressing. "Laluji promised to make the roads like the cheeks of Hema Malini but failed and we did it in the last four years. Narendra Modi brought so much development in Gujarat in last 8 years, which the Congress could not achieve in 50 years", he claimed.

In Bihar an anti-corruption law has been promulgated for the first time in the country to confiscate property acquired through corrupt practices and reward informers. None could point a finger at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar but in Arunachal Pradesh the ruling Congress had purchased all the nine opposition BJP MLAs, including the leader of the opposition and engineered their defection.

500 acres Assam land in Bangladesh grip

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fter Pakistan and China, it’s now the turn of Bangladesh to turn the border heat on India.

Barely 24 hours after the Border Security Force prevented Bangladeshi raiders from extracting sand and stone from Meghalaya, Assam revenue minister Bhumidhar Barman dropped a bomb on Saturday. He said Bangladesh has been occupying 499.79 acres of land in the southern and western part of the State since 1948.

Dhaka is yet to respond to India’s request to return the land, though the issue was taken up in the joint boundary meeting between the two countries a week back.

“Of the total Indian land in possession of Bangladesh, 310.73 acres belong to two tea estates in southern Assam’s Karimganj district,” said Barman. Bangladesh – then East Pakistan – has been holding on to 11.73 acres of Pramodnagar Tea Estate since 1948 and 299 acres of Pallatan Tea Estate since 1965.

Besides, Bangladesh has also been occupying 189.06 acres of the Boroibari area of Mankachar sub-division in western Assam’s Dhubri district since 1948.

“We will take up the issue again at the next meeting to resolve boundary disputes,” Barman said. The issue was to be resolved under the 1974 Indira-Mujib Accord subject to rectification by the parliaments of both the countries.

While the Assam government wants Bangladesh to return the land to two estates, it has made a blueprint to repossess the surplus land of many of over 800 tea estates further inland. This land will be distributed to plantation workers – Adivasis aka “tea tribe” – at 1.05 kathas per family. A katha in Assam is one-fifth of a bigha.

The sop for plantation workers is, however, less magnanimous than that for the Congress’ other major vote bank – migrant Muslims. They stand to own land in ‘char’ areas or sandbars at 8 bighas per family. “The land allotment survey is on in the char areas,” Barman said.

A network of 121 rivers has ensured over 4250 sandbars across Assam. As per official estimates, 2251 of these are char villages covering 360,927 hectares, 2,490,097 inhabitants with 68 per cent BPLs. Over 90 per cent of the sandbar settlers are migrant Muslims.

The government also has a gift for small tea growers, each of whom by definition cultivates less than 100 bighas of land. Each of such growers will be given possession certificates for 30 bighas on condition that they cannot sell or transfer their land.

Bangladesh encroaching upon 500 acres of Indian land: Assam

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he Assam government on Saturday alleged that Bangladesh has encroached upon 499.79 acres of Indian land, including two tea gardens, and urged New Delhi to take up the matter with Dhaka urgently.

"Our records show that Bangladesh is in illegal possession of 189.06 acres in Assam's Dhubri district while the remaining is in Karimganj district," state Revenue Minister Bhumidhar Barman told journalists.

"Two tea gardens in Karimganj district are under illegal occupation of Bangladesh."

One encroachment dates back to 1948 and another to 1965, he said.

"Although the Indira-Mujib pact was signed in 1974 to resolve border dispute and issues relating to encroachment, the agreement has not been implemented in totality," the minister said.

"We have once again exhorted the central government to ask Dhaka to vacate our land immediately without any confrontation," Barman said.

The barbed wire fencing along the 262 km land border that Assam shares with Bangladesh is nearing completion. "By March 2010, the entire border fencing work would be completed," the minister said.

The porous India-Bangladesh border has always been a bone of contention with allegations that hordes of illegal Bangladeshi migrants enter Assam for livelihood, thereby upsetting the region's demographic profile.