Mrs Eustar Chishi Swu, Collective Member NSCN IM

IMPHAL, SEP 9: Manipur police on Friday arrested two persons in connection with violence against members of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and Youth Athletic Development Association (YADA) during a drive against drug peddlers in Imphal’s Hatta Golapati late last night.

A reporter of a local daily was among as many as eight people injured in the violence that erupted after several rounds of gun were fired during the drive against illegal drugs.

Wayenbam Johnson, a reporter with Naharolgi Thoudang, a local daily, who was caught in the violence he rushed to the spot to cover the incident sustained injuries on his head and other parts of the body after he was physically assaulted by the mob even as he showed his identity card.

Besides, he also wore a “Press” jacket issued by All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union issued to the reporters in the state.

Injured members of BJYM and YADA receiving medical treatment at JNIMS hospital.

The reporters, along with the other injured people, were rushed to JNIMS hospital. BJYM Manipur president Barish Sharma and YADA general secretary Aziz Khan were also among those injured.

According to reports, a joint team of members of BJYM Manipur and YADA conducted a drive against illegal drugs at Hatta Galopati last night, around midnight.

During the search of houses in the locality, members intercepted 100 vials and 10 soap cases of suspected Heroin powder drugs in a locked room. Upon interception, they informed the Porompat police of Imphal East district and continued to search other suspected houses as they waited for the police to arive. However, they had to abandon the search and run away from the place after guns shots were fired at them from unknown directions. On hearing the gun shots, local residents came out of their respective homes with deadly arms including knives and swords and chased after the members of the BJYM and YADA. At least eight members, including BJYM president and YADA general secretary, sustained injuries as the mob attacked them. Meanwhile, additional police force from Imphal East district headquarters rushed to the locality and took control of the mob.

The police further launched a manhunt operation and arrested two persons allegedly involved in firing gunshots. A small gun was also recovered from the possession of one of the arrested persons, the report said.

The Porompat police registered a case and initiated an investigation to nab those involved in the attack on the members of the BJYM and YADA, a police source added.

Mention may be made that members of YADA have been assisting the police and other law enforcing agencies in the drive against illegal drugs under the Manipur government’s War on Drugs campaign.

Members of BJYM have also recently joined the campaign.

There was also another instance in which a mob attacked BJYM members in such a drive in Moirang of Bishnupur district recently.

AGARTALA, SEP 9 (PTI):

Tripura is set to get its first film institute, under the aegis of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) in Kolkata, state minister Sushanta Chowdhury said.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the state government and SRFTI would be signed to that effect as soon as the governing council of the Kolkata-based institute clears it.

If all goes well, the institute at Nazrul Kalashetra here will be inaugurated on October 31.

Initially, four certificate courses - Film Appreciation, Screen Acting, Production Management for Cinema and Television and Anchoring/News Reading -- will be offered to the students, said the state information and cultural affairs (ICA) minister.

“We had a detailed discussion with the director, registrar and technical persons of SRFTI in Kolkata recently over the opening a film institute in Tripura. They gave given a go-ahead for the courses,” Chowdhury said at a press conference on Friday.

The state government has allocated Rs 5.75 crore for the project, and the PWD department is undertaking necessary work to give Nazrul Kalashetra a facelift.

Academic activities at the new institute were expected to begin in November, the minister said.

Hoping that the proposed institute will open more opportunities for the youth, he said that those willing to take make a career in film and allied sectors would be immensely benefited.

Taking a dig at the erstwhile regimes, Chowdhury said despite the longstanding demand for a film institute in Tripura among a section of youth, the previous governments never took any step to set up one.

“Why can’t we do it if our neighbours can? Assam, Manipur, West Bengal have flourishing film industries. Based on the feedback we receive from the new institute, diploma and degree courses may be introduced there in the near future,” he added.

Sushanta Chowdhury.

Villagers say police instructed them to demolished madarasa

Local residents demolish the madrasa in Assam’s Goalpara district on Tuesday. (Assam Police) DAROGAR ALGA (ASSAM),

SEP 9 (PTI): In what may spark a controversy, villagers of Darogar Alga char in Assam’s Goalpara district alleged that they tore down a madrassa on instruction from the police, a charge which the superintendent of police dismissed as baseless.

The locals asserted that the communication was sent to a fellow villager having connections in the force and it was he who asked people to pull down the structure.

The police, however, denied the charge saying they were only investigating a case of alleged terror links of two persons, now absconding, who were teaching at the seminary.

According to the police, the Darogar Alga madrassa and a reed house on its premises were demolished on Tuesday by the villagers themselves after the emergence of “suspected jihadi links” with its two teachers, who were reportedly Bangladeshis. “I was among those who pulled down the two structures. I was working in my jute field on the riverside when Shukur Ali (a villager) called me to the madrassa compound. He asked me and five-six others to help him demolish them,” Rahim Badshah, a local, told PTI here.

Ali is a self-proclaimed BJP worker in the sandbank. His motorcycle carries a lotus (BJP party symbol) sticker. Several such stickers are also visible on the walls of his residence. “When I asked Ali why we should demolish the madrassa, he said that SP (superintendent of police) and DSP (deputy superintendent of police) sirs have asked us to do so. When I reached the madrassa compound, the media were already there,” Badshah claimed. Several other villagers corroborated Badshah’s assertion. When asked, Ali accepted that the media was invited beforehand to cover the demolition and the structures were pulled down in front of them. However, he was silent on the police asking him to demolish the madrassa. When approached for his comment, Goalpara Superintendent of Police V V Rakesh Reddy said the force had “absolutely no role” in bringing down the seminary and the adjacent temporary one-room house. “From our side, there was no communication for the villagers saying that they proceed with it (demolition). Had it been planned, the district administration would have taken the steps accordingly,” Reddy told PTI over the phone. Reddy said that the villagers never thought the madrassa teachers who had left suddenly had links with terror outfits. “That the teachers were Al-Qaeda jihadis was a piece of shocking news for them. We are only investigating that case. We visited the place many times before to collect statements of the villagers,” he said.

Six water resources department officials suspended in Assam

GUWAHATI, SEP 9 (PTI): Six employees of Assam’s water resources department, including an assistant executive engineer, have been suspended for alleged dereliction of duty, an official release said.

They were placed under suspension with immediate effect as per an order issued on Thursday after a preliminary enquiry into corruption charges against them was conducted, it said.

Water Resources Minister Pijush Hazarika had ordered the probe after the allegation of corruption in the repair work of Demow Laibeel embankment in the Thowra constituency was raised. A video purportedly showing sub-standard materials being used for the repair work had surfaced a few days back.

Hazarika had ordered the departmental enquiry after he noticed the video. The six officials have been placed under suspension based on a preliminary report of the investigation, the release said on Thursday. An assistant executive engineer of Demow sub-division, a junior engineer of Sivasagar and four others have been suspended, it said. The contractor, who was entrusted with the repair work of the embankment, is being blacklisted by the department, according to the order.