tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Wednesday, September 16, 1998
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26 killed in Assam
GUWAHATI, Sept 15 (PTI) — At least 26 persons were killed and 500 houses set on fire today in the worst outbreak of ethnic violence in Assam's Kokrajhar district in recent times as the civil authorities requisitioned the Army to maintain peace. Militants of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), using guns and machetes, attacked Orang tribes at Dalgaon-Ranipur village killing 14 persons, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Western Range) B.B. Mishra said. The militants then attacked Sapkatha village and shot dead six Santhals, including a woman and a child, to avenge the killing of three Bodos hacked to death when they had gone to collect firewood at Satyapur village. In a separate act of revenge, Santhals, using bows and arrows and sharp-edged weapons, decapitated three Bodo men in their 20s at Alokjhar village. S. Thadou, Deputy Commissioner of Kokrajhar district, said Army deployment had been sought in view of the tension sweeping the strife-torn villages. Nearly 500 houses belonging to Bodos and Santhals were torched as the two rival tribes went on the rampage attacking each other and resorting to widespread arson at 10 nearby villages.

Pak ready with Shaheen
ISLAMABAD, Sept 15 (PTI) — Pakistan is all set to test fire its short-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile Shaheen from a newly-developed mobile launching pad, media reports said here on Tuesday. The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) has already developed a state-of-the-art launching pad to test fire Shaheen which can carry nuclear warheads up to a distance of 750 km, leading Urdu daily Nawa-e-Waqt said quoting PAEC sources.

Trial against Jakhar begins
NEW DELHI, Sept 15 (PTI) — A formal trial against a senior Congress leader and former Union Minister, Mr Balram Jakhar, in the Rs 65 crore Jain hawala case began today with two prosecution witnesses deposing before a city court here. The Special Judge, Mr V.B. Gupta, had framed charges against Mr Jakhar on September 3, last year for allegedly receiving undue favour from the Jains when he was the Union Agriculture Minister in September, 1989. Besides Mr Jakhar, the Jain brothers — B.R. Jain, N.K. Jain, S.K. Jain and their manager J.K. Jain — are the co-accused in the case.

Narcotics haul
NEW DELHI, Sept 15 (PTI) — In the biggest narcotics haul in recent years, Customs sleuths seized 17 kg of heroin worth Rs 17 crore in the international market from three Ethiopia-bound Nigerians, including a woman, at Indira Gandhi International Airport here early this morning. The narcotics were seized from the Nigerians, who were to travel separately by an Ethiopian Airways flight bound for Addis Ababa, on the basis of observation by alert officials of the Air Customs Preventive Unit, Customs Commissioner Vijay Zutshi told newsmen.

Uranium seized
VARANASI, Sept 15 (PTI) — The police here has seized one kg of 'brown powder', suspected to be uranium, from four persons, including a Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) jawan, and arrested them for uranium trafficking, Deputy Inspector-General of Police A.K. Jain said today. The four accused, booked under the Atomic Energy Act, have been remanded in judicial custody. The 'brown powder', contained in two bags, has been sent to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, for testing.

400 court arrest
MANGALORE, Sept 15 (PTI) — As many as 400 persons, including BJP MP V. Dhanajaya Kumar and MLAs Yogesh Bhat, Jayaram Shetty and Kuble Sunder Rao, courted arrest today in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office. They were demonstrating against the increase in K.E.B. tariff as part of the "jail bharo" protest programme organised by the BJP. They were later released.

Naxal violence
HYDERABAD, Sept 15 (PTI) — Naxalites of the outlawed People's War Group (PWG) blasted the house of a Mandal Praja Parishad (MPP) chief in Bheemgal village of Nizamabad district of Andhra Pradesh last night, the police said today. A group of Naxalites blasted the house of MPP president Ram Reddy with explosives after asking the family members of Reddy to come out. Reddy was not present at the time of the incident.