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Assam : ULFA up in arms again - Governor escapes blast

	March 14, 2005

Assam Governor Ajai Singh had a narrow escape when separatists struck for the third straight day on March 11, killing a person and seriously wounding 20 more, officials said.



A police spokesman said motorcycle-borne militants lobbed a hand grenade in a crowded street in the heart of Assam’s main city Guwahati at 6.50 p.m. The governor’s motorcade passed the area minutes after the attack.



“Governor Ajai Singh’s convoy crossed the area minutes after the attack. The patrol that came under attack was meant for the Governor’s convoy.”

Nine people, including two policemen, were wounded. One of the injured, a civilian, died later in hospital. This was the fifth explosion in Guwahati since Wednesday last week.



In another incident Friday, rebels carried out a grenade attack in eastern Assam’s Sivasagar district, 360 km from Guwahati.

Militants of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) have claimed responsibility for nearly two-dozen blasts since Wednesday in various parts of Assam.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said the attacks by ULFA were aimed at creating panic in Assam.

“We are concerned about the series of explosions. The attacks show the frustration of the ULFA, which is desperately trying to make its presence felt,” Gogoi said.

The ULFA has been fighting for an independent Assamese homeland since 1979.

More than 10,000 people have lost their lives to insurgency in Assam during the past two decades.



Serial blasts

A series of explosions rocked Assam March on 9, killing a policeman and damaging several vital installations, including a crude oil pipeline, officials said.

In the western district of Bongaigaon, a policeman was killed and four more were wounded when a bomb planted in a market went off as a police team was trying to defuse it.

A police spokesman said there were nine explosions in different parts of the state. Three blasts occurred in the main city of Guwahati, including one at the international airport.

The spokesman said a powerful landmine blew up a crude oil pipeline near Lankachi village in eastern Assam’s Tinsukia district, 550 km from Guwahati. The pipeline belongs to Oil India Limited (OIL), India’s premier oil exploration firm. “We have suspended transportation of crude oil as a precautionary measure,” an OIL official said.

“The three blasts in Guwahati took place between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. “Fortunately the explosions missed the targets as there were no people at that time.”



Three militants, trooper killed

Three militants and a paramilitary trooper were killed in separate incidents in India’s restive northeastern region, officials said on March 7.

A police spokesman said heavily armed tribal militants belonging to the outlawed National Liberation Front of Asom (NLFT) late Sunday attacked a paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) patrol near village Dhalai in the state of Tripura.

The NLFT is a rebel group fighting for an independent tribal homeland in Tripura with the outfit believed to be operating from bases in neighbouring Bangladesh. Dhaka denies the charges.

In two separate encounters in Manipur state, three unidentified militants were killed by security forces on Sunday last.



United Opposition takes on Gogoi on law and order

The Congress government has come under fire from a united Opposition in the Assembly over deteriorating law and order but an unfazed chief minister used the opportunity to justify recruitment to the constabulary to boost anti-insurgency operations.

The AGP and BJP members walked out of the House after Speaker Prithibi Majhi rejected an Opposition demand for an adjournment motion to discuss law and order.

AGP president and leader of the Opposition Brindaban Goswami raised the issue. The AGP and the BJP members shouted slogans against the government demanding its resignation over law and order.

Speaking on the issue earlier, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi put the blame for the string of explosions on ‘terrorists who do not want Assam’s progress‘. He said it was not possible for the government alone to contain violence and sought the help of the people and the Opposition.



Gogoi plan for MLAs in legal tangle

The Tarun Gogoi government’s attempt to placate some disgruntled legislators with the posts of parliamentary secretaries . supposedly equivalent to the rank of a minister of state . appears to have boomeranged.

The BJP has decided to drag the government to court for the second time, challenging the constitutional validity of the posts. There are problems within, too, with most of the legislators omitted from the ministry during the downsizing exercise last year refusing to accept ‘crumbs‘.