M A I N   N E W S

6 shot in upper Assam
Manjula  Bhattacharyya

Guwahati, October 4
Violence continued to rock Assam for the third consecutive day as NDFB militants shot six persons early today in upper Assam. The death toll in the state in the past 72 hours has gone upto 39 in 19 attacks perpetrated by NDFB militants, backed by ULFA.

The main opposition party, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has demanded the resignation of Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for his failure to maintain law and order in the state. The state BJP has also backed the AGP demand.

Talking to The Tribune, the AGP President Brindaban Goswami demanded that the state government and the Centre should initiate a dialogue with ultras as soon as possible to prevent militancy.

Mr Goswami even favoured a dialogue with ultras on any foreign land. “If necessary the government would not hesitate to sit across the table with ultras on a foreign land,” added Goswami. He also demanded more regional autonomy for Assam and North-Eastern states to combat insurgency here.

The Chief Minister, Mr Tarun Gogoi virtually admitted that it had become impossible to control militancy in the state and related violence which had led to a fear psychosis. In fact, most people, even in the state capital, now preferred to stay indoor after sunset, the CM said.

It is learnt that the Assam government plans to replace the present DGP, Mr P.V. Sumanth, with the Tripura DGP, Mr Purokayastha, who had earlier functioned as IG (Police) and successfully tackled the militants. Mr Gogoi has reportedly approached the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil on this issue.

Meanwhile, ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, has owned the responsibility for 5 of the 19 attacks in the past 72 hours in the state. He described the attacks as an act to show the power of ULFA to the Assam Government, which had offered a ceasefire last week.

AASU asks airlines to cancel flights today
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 4
The agitating activists of the All-Assam Students Union (AASU), which has called for a statewide bandh tomorrow, have sent letters to the offices of all airlines operating from Guwahati to not to operate tomorrow.

There are a total of 10 flights which operated out of Guwahati with Jet Airways having five flights, Indian Airlines and Air Sahara having two flights each and Air Deccan having one.

As a result at least one airline has already decided not to operate any flight tomorrow, others are also expected to follow suit.