Aizawl:

Assam Rifles and Mizoram Police in a joint operation have seized heroin valued at Rs 8.43 crore from Champhai district, an official said on Friday.

Assam Rifles sources said that acting on a tip-off, the joint team of para-military troopers and Mizoram police personnel seized the heroin on Thursday night from an abandoned car at Ngur village in Mizoram’s Champhai district, which is one of the six districts shared borders with Myanmar and the main corridor drugs smuggling.

The contraband was smuggled from Myanmar and was to be supplied to other states, a source said.

No arrest, however, was made in connection with the seizure.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Imphal:

The army engaged in a fierce gunfight with suspected insurgents and rescued 75 women of a social and cultural institution in Manipur, according to a statement by the military on Sunday.

The incident happened on May 16. The group of armed people started firing towards Uyok in Leimaram at 10.45 pm, the police said. Leimaram under Bishnupur district is 1.5 km from the nearest hills, and Uyok is right in the foothills.

The Assam Rifles in a post on the microblogging website X said soldiers “brought down heavy fire” on the unknown armed people, during which they also evacuated 75 Meira Paibis, a women-only social and cultural institution of the valley-dominant Meitei community.

The Assam Rifles also posted visual of two soldiers firing a mortar at the suspected insurgents.

The use of mortar to bombard the attackers’ position in the dark indicates the attack by the armed people on Uyok village was so intense that it needed a very strong response, sources said.

The Meira Paibis have thanked the Assam Rifles and the army for evacuating and rescuing them.

ARMY & ASSAM RIFLES SAFELY RESCUE VILLAGERS FROM ARMED ATTACK BY MISCREANTS@adgpi and #AssamRifles safely led the rescue and evacuation of around 75 Meirapaibis during an attack by armed miscreants. The Security Forces repelled the misadventurism by bringing down heavy fire and… pic.twitter.com/Dupal1Q5se

— The Assam Rifles (@official_dgar) May 19, 2024

The hill-dominant Kuki-Zo tribes have set up bunkers on most of the hills surrounding Manipur’s valley areas, where the Meiteis live. The Meiteis have alleged the Kuki-Zo tribes of shooting at anyone including farmers in the foothills without provocation, while the Kuki-Zo tribes have accused the Meiteis of trying to take over hill areas with frequent attacks.

Over 220 have died and thousands have been internally displaced since ethnic violence broke out between the two ethnic communities in May 2023.

The Kuki-Zo tribes have demanded a “separate administration” carved out of Manipur, following the violence. However, the Meiteis have pointed out the Kuki-Zo tribes always wanted a separate land, and so the claim that the May 2023 violence led to the demand for a separate administration is completely bogus.

Assam Rifles on Monday recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition close to the Indo-Myanmar border in Mon district of Nagaland.  

Following inputs regarding the weapons near border area, the Assam Rifles troops launched the search operation and recovered a huge quantity of arms and ammunition comprising 11 Mortar tubes ((82 mm), 04 tubes (106 mm), 10 Pistols, 198 Hand Held Radio Sets and one Satellite Phone.

During the search operation the Assam Rifles also seized one Kenbo bike, one Bolero vehicle and other war like stores.

The troops also arrested one individual during the raid.

The recovered items and arrested individual have been handed over to the Nagaland Police.

“Successful operation by Assam Rifles as part of Border Sealing have dealt a big blow to nefarious designs of inimical elements to undertake subversive activities in the the region,” the Spear Corps said on X.
 

Acting on specific intelligence inputs, #AssamRifles troops recovered huge quantity of heavy calibre military grade weapons, equipment and war like stores close to Indo Myanmar Border in Mon District of #Nagaland. Recoveries include 11 x 82 mm Mortar tubes, 04 x 106 mm tubes, 10… pic.twitter.com/seiRAsTfus

— SpearCorps.IndianArmy (@Spearcorps) April 29, 2024

Imphal/New Delhi:

The commander of a Kuki insurgent group that had signed a ceasefire agreement has been arrested for alleged drug trafficking in Manipur, the police said.

A first information report (FIR) has been filed against the accused, Lemtinsei Singson, 50, commander of the United Tribal Liberation Army (UTLA), which comes under the banner of the Kuki National Organisation (KNO).

The 39 Assam Rifles, which caught Singson and recovered 124 grams of a substance suspected to be “brown sugar”, or heroin, hidden in 10 soap cases, in a report to the police said they sent out a column at 8 am to intercept the accused on getting information about the presence of insurgents at village Phaitol in Manipur’s Tamenglong district, 145 km from the state capital Imphal.

“Immediately, acting on the information, a column of 39 Assam Rifles… was launched for an operation… to prevent any subversive activities by insurgents considering the present law and order situation in the state,” a 39 Assam Rifles soldier who led the operation said in his police report.

In the report, the Assam Rifles said they saw a suspicious Bolero SUV parked near a community hall and a man standing near the vehicle. On questioning, the man said he came from Churachandpur district, 175 km away. Churachandpur was where ethnic violence between the hill-majority Kuki tribes and the valley-majority Meiteis began on May 3.

The Assam Rifles said they searched the SUV to check if it was carrying weapons and found in the boot a large polythene bag containing 10 soap cases suspected to be “brown sugar”.

The paramilitary force said they handed over the insurgent group commander to the police in Jiribam town. An Aadhaar card, a voter identity card, a permanent account number (PAN) card and a Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana card recovered from Singson were also handed over to the police.

The arrest raises concerns over the alleged misuse of the SoO agreement by Kuki insurgent groups, a retired police officer told NDTV, requesting anonymity. “The Assam Rifles are doing a good job by catching SoO group violators. This agreement doesn’t give a free pass to do illegal activities,” the officer said.

The KNO and UTLA – to which the accused caught with the packets of heroin belongs – are signatories to the tripartite suspension of operations (SoO) agreement between the centre, the state and the umbrella groups of at least 25 Kuki insurgent outfits that mostly operate in the hill areas of Manipur bordering Myanmar and Mizoram.

The Manipur government in March moved to withdraw SoO agreement with two Kuki insurgent groups.

Under the SoO agreement, the insurgents are to stay in designated camps and their weapons kept in locked storage, to be monitored regularly.

A terror suspect was arrested from Churachandpur by the country’s top anti-terror agency on September 30 in a transnational conspiracy case involving terrorist leaders in Bangladesh and Myanmar. The suspect, Seiminlun Gangte, was brought to Delhi for questioning and further investigation.

Over 180 have died in the Manipur ethnic violence and thousands have been internally displaced.

An Indian Army jawan looking at the India-China border through his telescope in Arunachal Pradesh. File.
| Photo Credit: RITU RAJ KONWAR

Assam Rifles files defamation suit against Manipur politician, seeks apology

Assam Rifles, the oldest paramilitary force in the country, has slapped a legal notice against a Manipur politician for causing “considerable harm to the reputation and standing of the organisation in the public eye.” It said the notice is being served for tarnishing the reputation and “discouraging and demoralising” the Central armed police force. Assam Rifles sought a “written” and “public” apology for the false allegation and defamation asking him to retract the statement he made at ‘Condolence of Meitei Martyrs’ in Delhi on June 30.

China releases new official map, showing territorial claims

China’s government released the “2023 edition of the standard map of China”, which continues to show the entire State of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region within China’s borders. The latest map follows Beijing in April announcing it would “standardise” the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, including a town close to the Arunachal Pradesh capital of Itanagar. This was the third such list “renaming” places in Arunachal Pradesh, and was seen by observers as a response to India holding events in the lead-up to the G-20 summit in the State, which Beijing had opposed. Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to attend the September 9-10 summit in New Delhi.

Only Centre can conduct census, Union tells SC in Bihar caste survey case

The Union government saidonly the Centre is entitled to conduct census, in its reply to the Supreme Court on the Bihar government’s caste-based survey. The Centre had filed an affidavit earlier on August 28 morning which said in its penultimate paragraph that “no other body is entitled to conduct the exercise of either census or any action akin to census”. Earlier, the Supreme Court had refused to stay the uploading of data collected in the recently concluded Bihar caste-based survey while debunking claims that the Nitish Kumar government had violated the fundamental right to privacy by compelling people to reveal their caste.

Rajnath Singh to visit Sri Lanka this weekend, say defence sources

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka over the coming weekend, defence sources confirmed. The visit comes at a time when the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry is considering a fresh request from China to allow the visit of a research ship. Last week, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry acknowledged receiving a request from the Chinese Embassy. The research vessel Shiyan-6 is expected to arrive in October. 

Article 35A took away fundamental rights while giving special rights to permanent residents of J&K, says CJI

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said Article 35A, which empowered the Jammu and Kashmir Legislature to define “permanent residents” of the State and provide them special privileges, denied fundamental rights to others. “Article 35A gave special rights and privileges to permanent residents and virtually took away the rights for non-residents. These rights included the right to equal opportunity of State employment, right to acquire property and the right to settle in Jammu and Kashmir,” Chief Justice Chandrachud, heading a Constitution Bench, observed on August 28.

India’s population growth alone is not enough to make its economy stronger, says Moody’s

India’s population growth would raise its labour force availability but that alone won’t be enough to make the economy stronger or improve fiscal outcomes, due to the quality of education in the country, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report on Monday. In a report on Sovereigns in South and South East Asia, titled ‘Population growth alone will not drive credit benefits for emerging economies’, the rating major said it expects continued population growth in the region to support economic expansion as working-age populations will remain large compared with younger and older citizens.

Warming Pacific points to rise in cyclones over India: Study

Tropical cyclones that originate near the Equator, while being devastating, have been unusually subdued in recent decades. The last major cyclone of this kind in the Indian neighbourhood was the 2017 Cyclone Okchi which devastated Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. However, a combination of global warming and a cyclical event called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) that repeats every 20-30 years, could make such cyclones more frequent in the coming years, a study published on Monday in the journal Nature Communications said.

Federal Judge sets March 4 date for historic Donald Trump trial

A federal judge has set a date of March 4, 2024, for Donald Trump’s election subversion conspiracy trial — placing one of the biggest criminal cases in American history at peak election season. Special counsel Jack Smith had asked for the trial of the 45th US president to begin on January 2, while Mr. Trump’s attorneys countered with a proposed date of April 2026 — 17 months after the election.

Fire in coach: Five from Uttar Pradesh arrested in Madurai by Tamil Nadu Railway Police

The Tamil Nadu Railway Police, have arrested five persons from Uttar Pradesh in connection with the fire that broke out in a coach and claimed nine lives near the Madurai railway junction on Saturday. The arrested persons have been accused of having carried inflammable articles on the train, in violation of Section 164 of the Railway Act.

U.S. raises concerns on India’s decision to curb tech imports

With the U.S. flagging concerns over India’s decision to impose import restrictions on certain electronic devices, both countries have agreed to find a solution to the issue that addresses the concerns of both nations, according to a statement of USTR. The issue was flagged during a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai here on August 26.

Foxconn billionaire Terry Gou says he will seek Taiwan’s presidency as independent candidate

Terry Gou, the billionaire founder of the electronics giant Foxconn, declared that he will run as an independent candidate for president in Taiwan’s 2024 election, ending months of speculation. Mr. Gou’s Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., is a major supplier to Apple and has factories in China. He has long had presidential aspirations. He ran in the 2019 election but lost as Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party easily won re-election.

I have no personal desire to hold any post in INDIA, says Bihar CM Nitish Kumar

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday categorically said that he had no “personal desire” to hold any post in the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) ahead of the upcoming third meeting of the Opposition bloc in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1. The buzz in political circles was that Mr. Kumar might be appointed as INDIA convener at its Mumbai meeting. Earlier, Mr. Kumar had initiated the meeting of Opposition parties in Patna on June 23 in which altogether 16 parties, including Congress, participated. The second meeting was held in Bengaluru on July 18.

WB fireworks blast: toll climbs to nine, one arrested

The death toll in an explosion at an illegal fireworks factory at Mochpol area under Duttapukur police station in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district rose to nine on Monday with one more person succumbing to injuries. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her disappointment at a meeting of the State Cabinet today. She wanted to know why steps were not taken after she had sought action following an explosion at Egra in Purba Medinipur district. An explosion at an illegal fireworks factory at Egra on May 16 claimed 12 lives.