News from silchar

Foundation
Silchar: The foundation stone for work on the Kumbhirgram-Udharbond Road which connects the airport with Silchar was laid by Union minister for heavy industries Sontosh Mohan Dev recently. The 12-km-long road will be made a double-lane under the central road fund.

Hospital
Silchar: Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Wednesday that the state government had planned to set up two separate and inde pendent wings for maternity and paediatrics on the Ghoongur campus of Silchar Medical College and Hospital, 6km south of Silchar town, at a cost of Rs 16 crore.

Man held
Hailakandi: Hailakandi police on Wednesday arrested Zakir Hossain, 32, the kingpin of an inter-state car-lifting gang, during a raid in the district.

Condition of Cachar paper mill evokes Centre’s concern

By A City Correspondent GUWAHATI, June 25 – New Delhi has taken serious note of the issue of inadequate supply of raw materials to the Cachar Paper Mill at Panchgram, which has led to a complete standstill in functioning.This mill, the only potential industry in the Barak Valley has been providing livelihood to thousands of people both directly and indirectly.The Ministry of Heavy Industry has discussed the issue with representatives of the concerned parties, including the NC Hills Autonomous Council. It may be mentioned here that the hills district is a major supplier of green bamboo, the raw material for the mill. The Union Minister of Heavy Industry Santosh Mohon Dev has requested the NC Hills Autonomous Council to look into the matter of raw material supply to ensure continuous flow of green bamboo. The Kagaj Kal Bachao Committee (KKBC), a conglomerate of as many as 15 organisations has informed that the production in the Cachar Paper Mill, a unit of the Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd (HPC) has been stalled since June 7 due to lack of the required green bamboo. In protest against the unconcerned attitude of the Government, the KKBC had blocked the National Highway on June 17, demanding immediate corrective measure to bring the mill back to its previous status.The KKBC has been demanding necessary steps to make the sick mill profitable, removal of alleged political interference into the mill’s affairs and disciplinary action against the contractors who failed to supply the bamboo as per the contract.However, the NC Hills Autonomous Council on being contacted said that the prevailing circumstances had prevented the council to concentrate on matters like supply of bamboo to the mill. “We will look into the matter and do our best to ensure continuous flow of bamboo to the mill,” said Debojit Thaosen, a member of the council who was present at the discussion with the union minister.

Arms being smuggled through Barak Valley

Arms being smuggled through Barak Valley

From our Staff Reporter Sentinel assam
SILCHAR, June 20: A group of ULFA cadres belonging to the outfit’s 709th battalion is currently camping at Unokoti along the Tripura-Bangladesh border with a consignment of Chinese grenades, intelligence sources here revealed. The group has been waiting for several days for the right moment to sneak into Asom, added the sources.

According to the sources, Bangladeshi arms traffickers are active at Unokoti under the cover of the sizeable Muslim population living in Khasi hamlets of that area. A recent report of the Genes Intelligent Review (GIR), a leading US based defense analysis wing, claims that Chinese arms and ammunitions have started to reach the hands of north-east militant outfits in huge quantities through Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Illegal consignments of arms are being smuggled from the Unokoti foothills in the bordering Kailashar district of Tripura to Guwahati through Badarpur of Barak valley, the sources said. The huge consignment of arms recovered at Jorabat about six months back had also come through the same route, the sources claimed.

The Unokoti-Badarpur-Guwahati corridor is believed to be one of the four “safe passages” passing through the Barak valley. The valley, considered to be an island of peace, is used by various militant outfits of the region for illegal trafficking of arms and narcotics. Besides the ULFA, the KLO and the Maoists are using the Bhairengti (Mizoram)-Bhairabi (Hailakandi district)-Meghalaya-Asom route as their arms supply corridor, the sources revealed.

The other two favorite routes of the militants are the Moreh border at Manipur to Asom via Jiribam (Manipur) and Silchar, the district headquarter of Cachar district. The sources said that Silchar, surrounded by hilly terrains, also falls in another arms smuggling corridor from Kamalpur (Bangladesh)-Dimagiri (Mizoram) border to Guwahati via Lailapur and Bagabazar in Cachar district.

It is believed that several consignments of illegal arms and ammunitions are trafficked under the cover of essential commodities in goods carrier vehicles and this can be intercepted if the police becomes more vigilant. According to the sources, the Kanakpur Road leading to the National Highway in the outskirts of Silchar town is one such vulnerable area.

4 petrol pumps in Cachar sealed

4 petrol pumps in Cachar sealed

SILCHAR, June 15 – Four petrol pumps, two of them of Silchar town, were sealed by a vigilance team recently.The two petrol pumps from Silchar town are Crosier Petrol Pump situated at Tarapur and Club Road. The other petrol pumps are SP and SR Filling Station at Katigorah and M/s Sharma Petrol Pump at Kalain. The vigilance team, which has been deployed by the Petroleum Ministry, sealed these petrol pumps due to adulteration of petrol and diesel.The vigilance agency, named AGS Private Agency, visited some petrol pumps in Cachar district. The team also served notices to four petrol pumps for adulteration.Meanwhile, the Barak Valley Petroleum Dealers’ Association approached the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar in this concern. The members said that pol items received by them often passed through several stages, hence the anomalies in consistent quality. Source: assam tribune