Morcha wary of hill bounty - revival plans for Darjeeling gold cup .. Prakash Karat accuses Mamata of encouraging GJMM- accuses UPA govt of patronising Mamata Banerjee and Maoists .... Girl on cell killed by train

Funds & sports as goodwill gesture

(From top) A rehearsal for the last Independence Day parade at Gorkha Stadium; Morcha supporters at a fast-unto-death in Darjeeling on Friday; and sports minister Kanti Ganguli in the hill town on Friday. Pictures by Suman Tamang

TT, Darjeeling, Sept. 17: The state government today promised more funds for Darjeeling “irrespective of political differences” and revival of sports tournaments to build “goodwill” between the plains and the hills, the gesture setting the tone for the coming tripartite talks on an interim set-up for the region.

After Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee said in New Jaipaiguri recently that she would visit Darjeeling to discuss with the people their grievances and lack of development in the hills, sports minister Kanti Ganguly today announced plans to pump in funds to improve the infrastructure at Gorkha Stadium in Lebong as well as revive the Darjeeling Gold Cup, which has not been held since 1984.

“The governor has been made the patron-in-chief of the Darjeeling Gold Cup football tournament and we are looking at organising matches from the first week of November. We will approach Calcutta clubs like Mohun Bagan, Chirag United and Mohammedan Sporting to take part in the event,” said Ganguly here today.

The state government is perhaps taking a cue from initiative of the Darjeeling police, which had recently organised a Friendship Cup with much success.

The fact that the governor has been made the “patron-in-chief” has given enough space to speculate that the initiative is attached with political overtones. It is a common knowledge that the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which has been agitating for Gorkhaland, has always bestowed much importance to the governor, who will also be directly looking after the affairs of the proposed interim set-up.

“Irrespective of political differences, everyone is united to start the football tournament. Hill players like Ram Bahadur and Chandan Singh had created a sensation on the football grounds of Calcutta,” said Ganguly.

The much-neglected Gorkha Stadium at Lebong, too, is set for a facelift. “Rajya Sabha member Suman Pathak will be providing Rs 25 lakh and the state government will arrange for the rest of the funds. We are looking at spending Rs 1 crore for the uplift of the football stadium,” said Ganguly.

The state government is also willing to develop a sports ground in Kurseong. “We have directed the district magistrate to identify land. We could ask tea gardens to provide us with space or we could even develop a ground belonging to an educational institution,” said the minister. He added that the government was willing to allocate funds to organise various tournaments in Kalimpong also.

“We will also introduce the sports talent allowance of Rs 400 for promising players between the age group of 12 and 19,” said Ganguly.

He said the district magistrate would be given funds to conduct motor vehicle training to underprivileged youths and issue them licences.

Hill affairs minister Asok Bhattacharya said the Bengal government’s gesture was “bound to create goodwill” between the hills and the plains. “This is a good gesture and should go down well with the people of the hills,” Bhattacharya, who is also the Siliguri MLA, said.

The Morcha, however, was guarded in its response. Binay Tamang, the assistant secretary of the Morcha, said: “Let’s wait and watch the situation first. Let us see what kind of funds is pumped in and what developments take place. Only then will we comment.”

Deregister’ threat to plotters 

TT, Darjeeling, Sept. 17: The ABGL will organise a public meeting in Kalimpong tomorrow and has threatened to write to the Election Commission of India to “deregister” any party which attempts to thwart its meeting.

After the murder of ABGL leader Madan Tamang on May 21, the party was able to hold public meetings in Darjeeling and Kaijalay, but their efforts went in vain at Kurseong and Sukhiapokhri with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and its affiliates calling a general strike coinciding with the meetings.

“We will go ahead with the public programme and if any party tries to disturb our meeting, we will immediately write to the Election Commission requesting them to deregister the party,” ABGL spokesperson Narayan Chhetri said referring to the Morcha without naming the party.

Two former GNLF councillors, along with an influential leader who recently quit Subash Ghisingh’s party, and a former Darjeeling municipality commissioner are also expected to join the ABGL in Kalimpong tomorrow.

Chhetri today said the party’s main goal was to achieve statehood. “As an alternative, we are not averse to getting a Union territory status for the hills or even merging the Darjeeling hills with Sikkim.”

The ABGL has also decided to meet Mamata Banerjee who is likely to reach Darjeeling on September 26 for a two-day visit. “We will demand that the toy train route be extended from Ghoom to Mirik. We also want the Sikkim railway project to be extended till Kalimpong (from Teesta) and the Darjeeling Mail should start from Sukna instead of New Jalpaiguri,” said Chhetri.

The party will also request the Trinamul Congress chief to raise the Madan Tamang murder issue in Parliament.
KalimNews: ABGL has all set for its grand meeting in Kalimpong on 18 September  and Rajen Mukhia who deserted GNLF along with other leaders of hill will be inducted to ABGL  during this meeting. Mukhia will probably be chaired in Vice President post.
Minister dares GJM on polls
TNN, DARJEELING: Urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya on Friday dared GJM to participate in the electoral process to prove its claim of being the "voice" of the Hills. "They (GJM) say they are the sole representatives of the Hills people. Then why are they shying away from participating in (interim set-up) elections?" Bhattacharya said at the Circuit House on the sidelines of a meeting with district officials. "Even they (GJM) know it will be difficult to include the Terai and Dooars areas in the new set-up," he said.    
Land scam curbs on general's movement

HT, Guwahati:A lieutenant general indicted by an Army court in the Sukna land scam in West Bengal has been put under “open arrest” since last Tuesday. This  means restriction on his movement and activities until his trial is completed. Lt Gen P.K. Rath’s trial is a first for a three-star general allegedly involved in a scam.
The “open arrest” came 24 hours before Rath appeared at the general court martial (GCM) in Shillong, which his counsel S.S. Pandey said was uncalled for since “he cannot be treated as guilty before the trial is over”.

According to Pandey, Rath was not avoiding trial and was cooperating at every step. He charged the authorities of flouting an army rule to belittle the lieutenant general by entrusting the court of inquiry to officers junior in rank. “The trial shouldn’t have been ordered as the summary of evidence against Lt Gen (retd) Avdesh Prakash (also involved in the case) is on at the Army’s Eastern Command headquarters in Kolkata,” he said.

Rath’s counsel, in his submission before presiding officer Lt Gen I.J. Singh, also said certain documents pertaining to the case were forged. The trial, rescheduled for Friday afternoon, was inconclusive.

TMC visited hills

KalimNews: A 3 membered TMC team headed by Gautam Deb President, TMC District Committee, and Soumitra Kundu Secretary met GJMM leaders regarding visit of Mamata Banerjee Railway Minister. Some of the Railway Stations of Darjeeling are going to be upgraded and provided with certain facilities to be inaugurated during her visit. She will also address a public meeting in Chowrasta Mall but it is worried over the attendance of audience and has secretly met with the GJMM leaders for this a close source of the party revealed but both the parties denied it.     
Mamata’s proposed visit to Darjeeling adds to CPM woes

SNS, KOLKATA, 17 SEPT: During her whirlwind tour of north Bengal last Monday, Miss Mamata Banerjee had announced that she would soon visit Darjeeling and hold talks to ensure a peaceful solution to the continuing trouble in the hills. Trinamul sources later  revealed that Miss Banerjee would visit Darjeeling on 26-27 September and meet leaders like Mr Bimal Gurung of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) and also representatives of the People's Democratic Front, GJMM's rival group. Miss Banerjee said her only formula for solving Darjeeling's woes was all-round development and creating job opportunities for the youth. Concerned over the announcement, the CPI-M rushed its Rajya Sabha MP from Darjeeling, Mr Saman Pathak, to the Hills to trumpet the state government's development initiatives. Mr Pathak has already voiced his concern over the delay in bringing the Balason Water Project on the ground and held talks with district officials. Countering Miss Banerjee's claims, Mr Pathak said the state government was doing much more in this regard. “The GJMM agitation in the Hills has definitely slowed the pace of development in the area, but we (CPI-M) will reverse the trend,” he said

CPM accuses Mamta and UPA

PTI, Patna, 17 September: The CPI(M) today accused the UPA government of patronising Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and the Maoists to oust the Left Front government from power in the 2011 West Bengal assembly elections in the state.

"The Centre is patronising the TC supremo and the Maoists to oust the over three decade old Left Front government from power in next year's assembly elections," CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat told a public meeting in Patna.

He alleged that the UPA government was abetting Banerjee 'using Maoists' to kill 170 CPI(M) workers in West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia in the state.

Thousands of CPI(M) workers had also been forced to leave home by armed Maoists apparently to ensure that the Trinamool Congress-led alliance won the assembly elections, the CPI(M) leader claimed.

He questioned the Centre's handling of the Maoist problem while drawing attention to the Lalgarh rally by the Trinamool Congress chief where a number of central ministers were also present.

Claiming that the killing of grassroot CPI(M) workers had increased in the state since 2008, he alleged that the Centre was a mute spectator to it.

He alleged that even secessionist forces like the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and Kamatapuris were allowed to be roped in by Banerjee in her bid for power.

Karat, however, said Left workers had launched action to retrieve lost ground in three naxal-infested districts bordering Jharkhand.

Warning the Maoists, he said they would soon be driven out from Lalgarh by his workers and not because central forces were deployed there. "Lalgarh me Maobadi nahin rah payenge."

He defended the Left front government and cited the implementation of land reforms, panchayati raj, scientific education in madarsas, prevalence of communal amity as its landmark achievements.

No riots took place in West Bengal during the anti-Sikh riots in late 1984 and post-Babri mosque demolition in Ayodhya in 1992, Karat said.

The CPI(M) leader said the fight against reactionary and communal forces would suffer a blow if the Left forces were to be weakened in the country.
Court arrest order for cop
TT, Islampur, Sept. 17: A local court has granted 15 days to inspector in-charge of Chopra police station to arrest and produce before it a former Congress MLA accused in a murder case.

Additional district and sessions judge Debabrata Sinha passed this order after police inspector Dilip Karmakar surrendered before him on Tuesday following an arrest warrant against the cop for “not responding to repeated reminders” from the court to catch former MLA from Chopra, Hamidur Rehman.

Although police said Rehman had been absconding, The Telegraph had spoken to him today.

As Karmakar surrendered before the court on Tuesday, the judge asked him to execute the arrest warrant against the former MLA within 15 days.

“In 2003, Rehman was accused of murdering CPM leader Akbar Ali, and had been absconding since then. The court had then issued an arrest warrant against the former MLA, but the police officer did not comply with it, nor appear before the judge. At last on August 31, when the judge ordered his arrest, Sarkar surrendered in court,” said government advocate Prafulla Kumar Mondol.

Mondol said the police officer had been given 15 days to execute the arrest warrant. “With Rehman not being produced before the court, the murder case has not been heard as yet.”

Akbar Ali, 49, a CPM district secretariat member, was at a meeting at the party office in Chopra on April 30, 2003 — a few days before the panchayat polls — when a group of Congress supporters, reportedly led by Rehman, attacked Ali and others.

The CPM leader had suffered head injuries and died on the way to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.

Following the incident, violence broke out in the area and a police camp was attacked by CPM supporters in Chopra’s Lalbazar. The cop firing had killed three CPM supporters. Rehman was arrested along with 15 others. A reporter and a photographer of The Telegraph had also been attacked by alleged CPM workers.

However, after getting bail, Rehman had not been appearing during the hearings on the case. When contacted, Rehman refused comment. “I do not want to say anything,” he said.

Inspector Karmakar said it would not be correct for him to make any comment as the matter was sub-judice.

First move game after Rahul visit- Dissolve board: Trinamul sets condition for ally

Rahul, Mamata: ‘Complicating matters?’

TT, Siliguri, Sept. 17: The Trinamul Congress today said it would not join hands with the Congress to run the Siliguri Municipal Corporation unless the board was dissolved, the U-turn coming at a time Rahul Gandhi has been stressing that self-respect should not be sacrificed for alliance.

Gautam Deb, the Darjeeling district Trinamul president, admitted that the Congress had approached his party a number of times earlier, but a consensus could not be reached till the board was dissolved.

But the district Congress president Uday Dubey today said the situation had changed and Trinamul would have to make the first move if it wanted to run the civic body jointly.

“We want to iterate what Rahul Gandhi said: alliance, but with honour and dignity. There is no question of bowing and the state Trinamul will have to approach the PCC to continue the negotiations. We are waiting for Trinamul to approach us first,” said Dubey.

Although the parties had contested together in the civic polls last year, a rift occurred after the victory when the Congress bagged the mayor and chairperson’s posts with CPM support.

“Our party chief Mamata Banerjee has made it clear that unless the Congress shuns the CPM, we will not participate in the working of the board,” said Deb.

“It is an open secret that the mayor and the chairperson, both from the Congress, were elected with CPM support. We cannot think of joining the board and being nominated to posts by a mayor who was elected with CPM support.”

After about six months of the SMC election, on March 30 this year, both Trinamul and the Congress said the misunderstandings had been cleared and they would soon forge a formal alliance.

“The mayor then said she would step down from her post for the sake of alliance but till date, no such hint has come from the Congress which has been insisting on a step-by-step discussion. We, too, will not approach them unless they take an initiative,” Deb said.

Leaders of both the parties said the recent visits of Mamata Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi to the region had only complicated matters. Mamata during her tour of north Bengal had compared Rahul to a koel without naming him, hinting that he was a fair weather friend. Rahul had shot back with advice to party workers to preserve their dignity.

“The local leaderships of both the parties are not ready for any compromise, fearing criticism even within the outfit, especially after the tough talk by the national leaders.

“Unless the top leaders like Mamata Banerjee and Pranab Mukherjee, who had struck the alliance to thwart the CPM, discuss the issue, the stalemate will continue,” said a Congress leader. 

Railway plan to encash station heritage

The 132-year-old Siliguri Town station

Avijit Sinha, TT, Siliguri, Sept. 17: The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has drafted a plan to put in place certain infrastructure at the 132-year-old Siliguri Town station to cash in on its heritage value.

The railways also have plans to attract tourists to Siliguri Junction, which is probably the only station in India to have all three gauges.

“We have sent a proposal to the Railway Board on the Siliguri Town station and are waiting for the sanction. The funds will be utilised to renovate the station’s old building,” B.L. Patil, the divisional railway manager of Katihar division of the NFR, told The Telegraph.

“We plan to develop an amphitheatre at the station where visitors will be entertained at regular events. We will revive the station building and old Goods Shed, besides setting up a museum to attract visitors.”

The railways also want to preserve Town Station’s meter gauge tracks, which are fast disappearing from the country.

The platform for the DHR at Siliguri Junction station

“Ten-twelve meter gauge coaches will be decorated and put on display at the station. Each compartment will be used in different ways. While there will be restaurants on some coaches, others will host galleries displaying the history of railways and information and pictures on railway heritage in this part of the country,” said Patil. 

The NFR has, of late, started developing and conserving heritage properties in the railway zone. The first completed project is a railway museum opened at Tinsukia in Assam last month.

The authorities want to give a facelift to Siliguri Junction station too.

“We are building a multi-functional complex on the premises of the Siliguri Junction station and plan to improve the facade of the building,” said Patil. “Moreover, as the station has all the three tracks, a stretch of meter gauge will be preserved to run a ‘railbus’ to Bagdogra. We also plan to keep platforms for all the three gauges of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (narrow gauge, meter gauge and broad gauge) so that the uniqueness of the station can be preserved.”

Tourism stakeholders, who had earlier sent a proposal to the railways for improvement of the Siliguri Town station, welcomed the move.

“It seems that the railways have gone through our proposal and are now working on it,” said Raj Basu, president of the Eastern Himalayan Travel and Tour Operators’ Association. “We look forward to seeing that the plans are implemented for heritage conservation at the stations so that they can turn into tourist attractions.” 

Sky show in Siliguri

TT, Siliguri, Sept. 17: The Sky Watchers’ Association of North Bengal will organise a free-for-all moon presentation at Siliguri Boys’ High School grounds tomorrow.

The programme will be held from 6pm to 8.30pm as part of the global initiative on International Observe the Moon Night that will be observed by international organisations like Nasa Lunar Science Institute, Lunar and Planetary Institute and Astronomers Without Borders. The event here, to be organised in association with the Green Environment Preservation Society, will have live demonstration of the moon through telescopes and projectors. A presentation on India’s first and successful lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 will also be shown.

US Citizen help

TT, Siliguri: An officer from the US consulate will visit Darjeeling and Siliguri to provide certain services to the US citizens here, a media release issued by the consulate in Calcutta on Friday said. The officer will be available at Windamere Hotel in Darjeeling from 9am to 10.30am on September 23 and at Hotel Apollo in Siliguri from 11am to 1pm the next day. US citizens who wish to renew their passports or need notary services can avail of the opportunity, the release said. There will also be information for US citizens who wish to vote from abroad for the November elections.

Exhibition

TT, Siliguri: A five-day photography exhibition on the life and work of Prafulla Chandra Roy will be held at Ramkinkar Hall from Saturday. Urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya will inaugurate the programme.

Tea Meet TT, Siliguri: The Confederation of Indian Industries will organise Indian Tea Forum — The World Cup of Tea in Siliguri from October 4 to 6 to promote the brew produced in north Bengal. The event will be conducted in association with the Tea Board of India and Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority, said Ramgopal Jajodia, a CII office-bearer. Central and state ministers and experts will deliver speeches on matters concerning the industry at the programme.

Halt to Buxa rides for tiger protection

The entry point to the Buxa Tiger Reserve at Rajabhatkhawa. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

TT, Alipurduar, Sept. 17: The forest department has stopped the most-sought-after car safaris in the Buxa Tiger Reserve on the directive of a central authority on the conservation of the big cat, dealing a major blow to tourism in the eastern Dooars.

Tour operators said the ban, which had come into effect from yesterday, would keep visitors away from Buxa as car rides were the major attraction.

“We have received a directive from the National Tiger Conservation Authority recently, mentioning the need to keep tourists away from core areas. Accordingly, the field director of the BTR has issued a notice to stop car safaris in the forest for the time being. Tourist can trek to Buxa Dooar or Pukhuri hills to enjoy the forest,” said Suvankar Sengupta, the deputy field director of Buxa Tiger Reserve (East).

Hundreds of people avail of the car safaris everyday to go deep inside the forest. They can see animals and visit the Pukhuri hills, where different species of fish are found in a pond.

“It is not clear why the forest department has all of a sudden stopped car safaris in the beginning of the tourism season. Tourists come to Buxa with the sole intention of taking the jungle rides. Visitors’ flow to Buxa will stop in the absence of the car safaris and what will then happen to the local people who depend on tourism directly or indirectly?” asked Shekhar Bhattacharjee, the secretary of the Jainti Gram Unnayan Samity.

Jainti is one of the entry points to Buxa, from where tourists board vehicles for the jungle safaris. Tourism is the major source of income for around 200 people in the locality, where more than 10 resorts are run by individuals and different government departments.

Bhattacharjee said the forest department wanted to relocate people living in the tiger reserve as part of a central plan. “They had offered Rs 10 lakh to each family to vacate Jainti last year. We are ready to move out but there has been no effort on the part of the authorities to make the payment. We will start an agitation if BTR officers do not resume the car safaris in two days.”

Search for missing jawan

TT, Malda, Sept. 17: A team of policemen left for Jalpaiguri yesterday in search of a jawan who has been missing for the past three months.

The police are trying to locate Indrojit Singha with the help of the call list on his cellphone.

Records have shown that Indrojit had spoken to a woman, a resident of Gayerkata in Jalpaiguri, for 13.5 minutes at a stretch on the day he went missing from home.

The 24-year-old jawan of the 10th battalion in Jalpaiguri, went missing on June 20.

His father Haripada Singha, a retired policeman, lodged a complaint with Ratua police station on June 26.

Haripada said his son had come to his house at Debipur near Ratua on June 19 on a four-day leave. “He was wearing shorts and a vest when he left home the next afternoon. But he did not return after that. He had joined the job six months ago and had been sending us money. But now we are not getting any money. We do not even know if he is alive,” he said.

Indrojit’s brother Biswajit Singh is also a jawan, but posted at Kasba in Raiganj.

District superintendent of police Bhuban Mondal said: “Indrojit used to talk to a woman from Gayerkata. He had spoken to her even after he left home on June 20. We are looking for the woman.” He also called on that number on June 22.

A team of officials led by officer-in-charge of Ratua police station Moqsedur Rahman left for Gayerkata yesterday. Senior officials suspect that there might be an affair between Indrojit and the woman.

EUCS producing Nepali music album for Nepali Channels

Gangtok, Sep 17, 2010: First ever nepali music album which will be telecasted from all the Nepal channels is being produced by educated unemployed cooperative society (EUCS) Darap-nambu gpu no.10 of Sikkim. It is being produced in collaboration with the students of Asian Academy of Film and Television(AAFT) and sponsored by the capacity building, govt. of Sikkim. The team will start its shooting from tomorrow from north Sikkim and the rest of Sikkim for 15 days. Cooperative people have a narrow view but for EUCS it is a platform. The striking feature of it is that all the team members are from Sikkim and are professionally trained in this field. " our main focus is to attain self-reliance, promote tourism all over the world and to become so called "anukarnia udharnia" said Silash Tamang gen. sec(EUCS). Talking about the problem he faced Tamang said " smooth roads doesnot take good drivers, problem free life doesnt make strong people". Possibly the project will be in the market after 1month. Tamang also added that, they have been inspired by the one and only charismatic leader Dr. Pawan kr. Chamling and expressed their greatest thanks for his guidance. We will definitely bring Sikkim in fore front, though the field is raw, Tamang said.   
Girl on Cell killed by train

TT, Kolkata:A train mowed down a schoolgirl glued to her cellphone as she walked past a closed rail gate and onto the track on Friday morning, highlighting a hazardous urban habit that has already claimed several lives.

Class XI student Madhurima Das, 16, was walking back home from a tuition class holding the cellphone to her ear with her left hand and an umbrella above her head with the other when pedestrians spotted her stooping to go under the horizontal bar of the closed gate near Dum Dum Cantonment station.

“The girl was apparently so engrossed in the cellphone conversation that she didn’t even notice that the train speeding down the track was barely 100 feet away. We shouted for her to step back but it was too late,” Kesab Mondal, a member of a club located just beside rail gate number three, told Metro.

Police said the cowcatcher of the Up Sealdah-Barasat local struck Madhurima the moment she stepped on the track, flinging her in the air as witnesses screamed in horror.

“She landed around 10 feet away and her head hit an iron railing. She was rushed to a local municipal healthcare centre, where she died 15 minutes later,” said an officer of Dum Dum railway police.

According to the case diary, the incident occurred at 9.35am. Madhurima’s father Manik Das, a superviser in a private security agency, was then getting ready to leave home for work, little knowing that the cellphone he had gifted his daughter after she passed Madhyamik had just played a role in her death.

“Manik is inconsolable. His wife (Krishna) has fainted several times since hearing the news. They can’t believe their only child is no more,” said Purnendu Mukherjee, a neighbour of the family.

Madhurima, who had joined Dum Dum Baidyanath High School for Girls barely three months ago, is not the first one to be knocked down by a train while walking across a rail track with a cellphone to the ear. Make-up artist Prabir De was mowed down by a train when he unmindfully walked down a track while engaged in a cellphone conversation during a photo shoot at Patuli, on the southern fringes, on June 15, 2005.

“People talking over the cellphone while driving or walking down busy roads or even rail tracks has become very common. We routinely spot pedestrians using cellphones while crossing key intersections like Chowringhee, Dorina Crossing, Shyambazar, Sealdah, Tollygunge and Hazra,” complained an officer at the Lalbazar control room.

So isn’t lax vigilance and enforcement of rules to be blamed for this? “We have proposed higher penalties for using cellphones while driving or jaywalking,” the officer claimed.

Section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 stipulates a pittance of a fine — Rs 100 — for using a cellphone while driving. The rule book states that if such use of cellphones causes “further inconvenience” or is deemed hazardous to pedestrians, then the errant driver may be fined Rs 1,000 for “negligent driving”.

“Till date, there has been no instance of someone being fined Rs 1,000 for using a cellphone while driving,” admitted a traffic sergeant.

At Nalta, under Dum Dum Municipality’s ward number 7, Madhurima’s relatives and friends hoped her tragic death would be a wake-up call for others.

“She had stepped out for her tuition class as usual around 7am. One of her friends informed us around 10am that she had met with an accident. By the time we reached the hospital, she was dead. How can a young life be lost in this manner? If only we could turn the clock back,” cried aunt Mousumi Das, who lives next door.

Father Manik, lying on a bed, clutched Madhurima’s damaged cellphone and wept.

MK Subba- nephew abducted - still untracable

Nanda kirati Dewan, Gorkhatimes.com, Guwahati: Ajay Subba, Advisor of All Assam Gorkha Students’ Union (AAGSU), Tinisukia District Committee has been abducted by unknown anti social elements in Bordubi area of Tinsukia district confirmed police sources this afternoon.

Mr. Subba was also the Vice President of Gorkha Autonomous Council Demand Committee (GACDC) the political wing of Gorkhas of Assam demanding Gorkha Autonomous Council in Assam is also nephew of the former Tezpur MP and President of Assam Gorkha Sammellan Mr. Mani Kumar Subba.

Sources claimed that Ajay Subba, a small tea garden owner, was kidnapped from Bordubi area around 11pm midnight while he was returning home from the tea estate as usual after inspection. According to speculations of the natives of the region Ajay's car was stopped by the miscreants, driven away to an undisclosed destination. “A massive search operation has been launched to trace the abducted Gorkha leader” said a police official.

The All Assam Gorkha Students' Union, on Wednesday blocked road at Bahadur Chariali in Tinsukia and closed shops in protest against the abduction and demanding release of the abducted leader. Tension prevails in the area and senior police and civil officials have rushed to the spot for hunting the small tea grower. Mr. Digambar Chetri, Publicity Secretary of AAGSU when asked about prime suspect in this case informed Gorkha Times that AAGSU is not in a position to say anything in this case but it is sure than it is not personal but organizational. “We demand immediate rescue of Mr. Ajay Subba and the administration should take all proper strategic steps, precautions and measure to release the abducted person”. “AAGSU will launch massive search operation through its unit in various parts of Assam and will help police and administration in the process” he added. Family members of Ajay Subba suspects anti-social elements like extremists groups involvement while Mani Kumar Subba was not available for comments.

Witnessing the recent Charaipung violence and AAGSU’s stand for safeguarding Assam’s border with thirty lac khukuris ,people were of the opinion that involvement of NSCN  cannot be denied. Recently NSCN(IM) had encroached border of Assam in the adjoining district  of Sivsagar’s Charaipung area and AAGSU with several other organizations were actively involved in driving out the miscreants. This could be the repercussion of that incident. Ajay Subba a man of early fifty's was a active social worker of the region and natives have condemned the incident of abduction. Natives along with AAGSU marched to DCs office and submitted an ultimatum of 24 hours to the administration to trace Ajay Subba. The matter is under investigation and more details are awaited.

Gorkha in Censor Board

KalimNews, Gangtok:CP Giri a resident of Ranipul, Sikkim an Ex IPS Officer of Nagaland is appointed member of Advisory panel of the Central Board of Film Certification for the North East India. Giri is appointed for two years in the Guwahati based North East branch office of CBFC (Censor Board). Giri had served as Police DG and Special Secretary (Home) of Nagaland till 2004. Giri produced a Nepali film Ma kasari bhanu from Nagaland in 2006.