REGIONAL

AGARTALA : Tipra Motha Party MLA Ranjit Debbarma on Friday wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, urging him to detect, detain and deport illegal immigrants from Tripura. In a letter to Shah, he said the illegal immigrant issue is “highly vulnerable and dangerous” to the internal security and sovereignty of the country, and sought the Centre’s intervention for implementing the Inner Line Permit for those coming from outside the state. “Illegal foreigners have been entering the state, taking the opportunity of weak administration and the direct and indirect help of dishonest political leaders and officials,” he said. Debbarma claimed that most of the illegal migrants have been going to several states and creating disturbances there after they entered India through the international border in Tripura. “Some illegal migrants work for their livelihood, but some are involved in terror activities,” the TMP legislator alleged. Debbarma claimed that infiltrators are changing the demographic structure of the bordering state, creating unemployment and land-related problems, and indulging in cross-border crime. “It is a matter of great sorrow that no government machinery in the northeastern state has worked on such a sensitive issue of illegal migrants. I have written to the Centre and the state government to implement the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the bordering state to check infiltration, but no action has been taken yet,” the legislator said. He lauded the Centre for forming a high-powered committee on the infiltration issue, and termed it as a “timely step to maintain law and order and internal security”. Debbarma also sought to meet the union home minister during his proposed visit to the state on June 5. “Kindly allow me a specific time in Agartala on June 5 for making a representation verbally with relevant documents on this severe issue of illegal immigrants so that National Register of Citizens, Inner Line Permit, Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 can be implemented in the state to secure the border,” he added. (Source: PTI)    

GUWAHATI ; The Gauhati High Court on Friday rejected bail to Shyamkanu Mahanta, the prime accused in the Zubeen Garg death case, noting that there is a “risk of fleeing and tampering evidence”. After hearing arguments from both sides, a single-judge bench of Justice Mitali Thakuria denied bail to the accused. On April 30, a special fast-track court had rejected bail to Mahanta considering him as ‘flight risk’. “The accused had challenged the trial court order of bail denial. The high court today rejected bail to Shyamkanu Mahanta after considering some crucial points,” Assam Advocate General Devajit Saikia said at a press conference here. The high court noted that Mahanta is a ‘flight risk’ and there is a possibility of him absconding from the ongoing trial, he said. “He had earlier erased all his mobile data. The prosecution worked hard to retrieve those. So, the high court viewed that there is a chance of tampering the evidence by him,” Saikia said. Besides, Mahanta is accused of also influencing his co-accused in the case, and the high court thought there is a chance of influencing the witness, too, Saikia said. Shyamkanu is the younger brother of former DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, who was also the Chief Information Commissioner of the Assam State Information Commission. Gauhati University VC Nani Gopal Mahanta, who was the Education Advisor to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, is another elder brother of him. On May 26, Special Fast-track Court Judge Sharmila Bhuyan framed charges against seven arrested accused in connection with the untimely demise of Assamese musician Zubeen Garg. The celebrated singer died under mysterious circumstances in Singapore on September 19 last year while swimming in the sea. He had gone to Singapore to attend the 4th edition of the North East India Festival (NEIF). NEIF chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, the singer’s manager Siddharth Sharma, his two band members Shekhar Jyoti Goswami and Amrit Prabha Mahanta, his cousin and Assam Police DSP Sandipan Garg, and his PSOs Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya are in jail as accused in the case. Prime accused Shyamkanu Mahanta has been charged with eight different sections of the BNS, while seven charges were framed against Sharma. Goswami and Amrit Prabha will face six charges each, Bora and Baishya will face two charges each, and Garg will defend himself against one charge. They were booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for murder, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal conspiracy and causing death by negligence. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Assam Police probed Garg’s death case after more than 60 FIRs were lodged across the state. However, the Singapore Police Force, which carried out a separate probe, concluded that there was no evidence of foul play in the case. A Coroner’s Court in Singapore had also said that the popular Indian singer-songwriter was severely intoxicated, and had drowned off the Lazarus Island after declining a life jacket. Authorities in Assam asserted that it would not impact the case here in any manner. (Source: PTI)    

IMPHAL : Manipur Chief Minister Y Khemchand Singh said that actor Bruce Lee’s ‘Enter the Dragon’ movie inspired him to pursue Taekwondo. Speaking at a Manipuri film event on Thursday evening, Singh said, “I want to place that cinemas can motivate humans. A simple story is that in 1978/79, when Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon movie came out, it motivated me. I even went to Lucknow and learnt Taekwondo.” Singh also assured all possible assistance for the development of Manipuri films. The 63-year-old has been practising the martial arts form since the age of 16. Apart from politics, he has had a long association with Taekwondo. A black belt holder, he is a former vice-president of the Taekwondo Federation of India and has been involved in the promotion of the sport in the Northeast. He also founded the All Assam Taekwondo Association in 1982. (Source: PTI)              

IMPHAL : Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh on Thursday said security forces are carrying out search and combing operations to trace those held hostage by armed forces. During a visit to Makhan Naga village in Kangpokpi district, he told reporters that four persons, suspected to be involved in the kidnapping of the six Naga people, have been arrested. The government is taking the issue seriously, and search and combing operations by security forces are underway to trace the hostages, the chief minister said. More than 38 people were abducted and held hostage by armed groups in Kangpokpi and Senapati districts on May 13, hours after three church leaders were killed in an ambush in Kangpokpi district. Of them, 31 people have been released, including 12 Naga women and 16 Kukis. Six Naga men, however, continued to be held hostage, and their whereabouts are not yet known. Kuki Inpi Manipur, the apex body of the Kuki tribes in the state, claimed that 14 people from the community continued to be held hostage by Naga groups. Singh said investigations were underway to nab the culprits and assured people that the hostages would be traced out soon. The Makhan Naga Village in Kangpokpi district also has a Relief Camp for Internally Displaced Persons. Singh met those taking shelter at the Makhen Baptist Church and distributed relief materials. The village chief told the chief minister that many Nagas in Kangpokpi district had left their villages out of fear. (Source: PTI)

GANGTOK : President Draupadi Murmu on Thursday conferred the prestigious President’s Police Colour on the Sikkim Police at an event at Paljor Stadium. Sikkim has now become the 15th state of the country and the third in the northeast to receive the award. The President’s Police Colour, also known as ‘Nishaan’, is the highest ceremonial honour bestowed upon a state or central police force in India in recognition of exceptional service, bravery, and professionalism. The officers of the state police honoured with the President’s Police Colour are authorised to wear a special emblem on the uniform. Speaking on the occasion, Murmu said, “I am delighted to have conferred the ‘President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service’ upon the Sikkim Police. This honour is a matter of pride for all members of the Sikkim Police.” She praised the Sikkim Police, founded in 1897, for dedication to maintaining law and order in the strategically important state. Observing that the police have had a colonial bearing, having been set up to control the people instead of serving them, the President said the mindset must change, and police should become citizens’ allies and guides. “By adopting the role of an ally, trust between the public and the police will increase,” she said. Murmu called upon the police to embrace technology to deal with cybercrimes. “Now, new challenges like cybercrime, online fraud, hacking, and deepfakes are emerging. To tackle these new challenges, the police must become proficient in the latest technology, cybersecurity, and digital investigation,” she added. (Source: PTI)

GUWAHATI : A new species of gecko – Cyrtodactylus Bapme – has been discovered in Goalpara district of Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday. “Nature continues to reveal new wonders from Assam. The first confirmed record of the bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus bapme) in Assam from Urpad Beel highlights the extraordinary biodiversity our ecosystems support,” he said in a post on X. The government’s continued conservation efforts are helping preserve these fragile habitats where diverse species continue to thrive, Sarma said. (Source: PTI)

GUWAHATI : The Assam Assembly on Wednesday passed the UCC Bill that seeks to put in place a common legal framework to govern marriage, divorce, succession and live-in relationships irrespective of religion, even as the opposition demanded that it be sent to a select committee. With the passage of the proposed legislation, Assam became the third state, after Uttarakhand and Gujarat, to pass a Uniform Civil Code Bill. Goa also has one common civil law, which continued from its erstwhile Portuguese colonial period. After a day-long discussion on the ‘The Uniform Civil Code, Assam, 2026 Bill’, Speaker Ranjeet Kumar Dass asked Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to move it for passage. Dass rejected the opposition’s demand that the Bill be sent to a select committee for wider consultation, prompting them to move to the Well of the House and keep on shouting till the Bill was passed. The Speaker put the Bill for voice voting, amid continuous slogans of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Jai Shree Ram’ by the ruling bench. “I declare that the Bill is passed,” he said after the ruling members voted in favour of it. As soon as the Bill was passed, it was welcomed by a thunderous applause. Aiming for a common set of laws on a range of personal matters like marriage, divorce, succession and live-in relationships irrespective of religion, the Assam government had on Monday tabled a Bill on the Uniform Civil Code, seeking to ban polygamy and make registration of live-in relationships compulsory. The Bill, however, said that it will not be applicable to any person belonging to the Scheduled Tribes and residing in Assam. It proposed several punitive measures, including seven years imprisonment for bigamy or polygamy, and three months in jail for not registering a live-in relationship. (Source: PTI)