Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Army Colonel killed in encounter in Kupwara: Police

Kupwara: An Army Colonel was killed in an encounter with militants in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said on Wednesday.

Colonel Neeraj Sood, commanding officer of 18 Rashtriya Rifles, was killed in Saiwan village in the dense forests of Lolab Valley on Tuesday night during an encounter between militants and the Army.

He is survived by an 11-year-old daughter and wife. His body will be brought to Delhi later today.

The encounter was still on in the area when last reports came in. Additional forces have been rushed to the area. (With PTI Inputs)

Won't accept 1972 demarcation by Assam: Meghalaya

SHILLONG: The Meghalaya government said it would not accept the 1972 demarcation done by Assam wherein a number of areas were included in the then Mikir Hills district, further intensifying the boundary dispute between the two states.

"The block-I and block-II areas were included in the Mikir Hills (now Karbi Anglong). The survey was done unilaterally by Assam. We cannot accept that," state home minister H D R Lyngdoh told reporters here.

He said once the areas of differences are resolved, Meghalaya will demand re-transfer of these areas to the state.

According to the demarcation done by Assam in 1951, many of the disputed areas like Psiar and Khatkasla in the borders of Meghalaya's Jaintia Hills and Assam's Karbi Anglong district were in Meghalaya, Lyngdoh said.

Earlier during a meeting in Guwahati, the chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya had decided to constitute a chief secretary-level committee to resolve the vexed boundary row.
The meeting came in the wake of alleged encroachment by Assam on some areas and a firing incident in the disputed Langpih area, which left four people dead.