Home Minister Amit Shah emphasized that if Assam is to develop further and attract significant private investment, then protection from floods is a key requirement. He stated that Assam must come up with a long-term plan which would provide protection from floods for decades to come and not look at short-term measures alone. He said this while holding a meeting with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Guwahati yesterday evening. 

Mr. Shah stressed that the Assam government should come up with a concrete action plan to protect and rejuvenate the wetlands in the State and increase their holding capacity so that they could also act as reservoirs during floods. Mr. Shah along with BJP’s national president J P Nadda attended the Assam BJP’s core committee meeting in presence of senior leaders of the state. Today, both the leaders will inaugurate new party office in Guwahati and also address a party rally at Khanapara in Guwahati. Later in the evening, Mr. Shah will attend a meeting of Chief Ministers and DGPs of North East on measures being taken to contain drugs menace.

Not letting up their drive against corruption, the sleuths of Directorate Vigilance & Anti Corruption on Saturday arrested a drug inspector on bribery charges in Jorhat, Assam. The accused, identified as Jahnabi Kalita, was trapped and caught red-handed while accepting bribe money. According to the anti-corruption wing, Kalita had demanded money for issuing a licence to the complainant for starting a pharmacy.

Taking to Twitter, ADGP (Law & Order) GP Singh wrote, “Smt Jahnabi Kalita, Inspector of Drugs Jorhat has been trapped and arrested red handed today by team of @DIR_VAC_ASSAM while accepting demanded money for issuing a Licence to the complainant for starting a Pharmacy.”

Earlier this month, a team of officials of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption arrested the assistant Block Development Officer (BDO) cum Secretary of the Dhula Gaon Panchayat in Darrang district of Assam on the charge of accepting bribe.

The accused assistant BDO has been identified as Sujit Thakuria. He had demanded money for passing a bill. He was trapped and arrested red handed by the officials of the anti corruption cell while accepting demanded money for passing a running bill in connection with contractual work.

A tripartite peace agreement was signed between Centre, Assam Government and eight tribal groups of Assam in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi today. The agreement was signed to end decade old crisis of tribal groups and tea garden workers in Assam. The tribal groups which have signed the agreement include, Birsa Commando Force, Adivasi People’s Army, All Adivasi National Liberation Army, Adivasi Cobra Military of Assam and Santhal Tiger Force.

Terming this a historic day for the North East region, Mr. Shah said, several steps have been taken to ensure peace and development in the North East under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said, the agreement will prove to be another milestone in the direction of making North East region extremism free by 2025. He said, 1182 cadres of tribal group of Assam have shun the path of violence by laying down arms and joined the mainstream. He said, the Centre is committed to resolve all border disputes between the North Eastern States and all disputes related to armed groups by 2024. Mr. Shah said, several agreements have been signed to ensure peace and development in the North Eastern region in the last three years. He said, NLFT agreement in 2019, BRU-REANG and Bodo accord in 2020, Karbi Anglong agreement in 2021 and Assam-Meghalaya inter-state boundary agreement this year has resolved around 65 per cent of border disputes.

Mr. Shah stressed that it is the responsibility of Government of India and Assam Government to fulfill the political, economic and educational aspirations of tribal groups. He said, the agreement also provides for the establishment of a Tribal Welfare and Development Council to ensure speedy and focused development of tea gardens. He said, a special development package of one thousand crore rupees will be provided over a period of five years for infrastructure development in villages and areas with tribal population.

The Union Home Minister underlined that around eight thousand insurgents have joined the mainstream by laying down their arms since 2014. He said, the year 2020 recorded the lowest number of insurgency incidents in the last two decades. In comparison to 2014, there has been a 74 percent reduction in the incidents of insurgency in 2021.

On this occasion, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, this is an important day as the agreement will provide social justice and political rights to the people who have left the path of violence. He said, this agreement will also ensure the welfare of these people as they came into the mainstream.

Dismissing the horse-trading allegations amid the ongoing political drama in Jharkhand, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday (July 31, 2022) said that he is still in touch with his former party cadres due to his 22-year-long association with Congress. “Even topmost persons of Congress keep in touch with me. We don’t talk about politics but being in a party for over 22 years, we keep in touch. I don’t know why FIR was filed on this,” Biswa told reporters. 

Assam CM’s statement came after Jharkhand Congress MLA Kumar Jaimangal alleged that Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has a major role in the horse-trading of MLAs to topple the JMM-Cong coalition government.

Notably, Sarma switched over to the BJP from Congress in 2015.

Congress leader Jaimangal filed a written complaint in Ranchi against three Congress MLAs nabbed in West Bengal’s Howrah with a huge amount of cash. In his complaint, the Congress leader, alleged that the trio had called him to Kolkata to take him to Guwahati and meet Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma in Guwahati along with them where he would have been promised a ministerial berth and cash worth crores after bringing down the JMM-Congress government in the tribal-dominated state.

His letter stated, that Assam CM ‘is doing it with the blessings of top shots of BJP political party sitting in Delhi.’

On a complaint of Congress MLA Kumar Jaimangal Singh, the police have registered Zero FIR against the three MLAs (Irfan Ansari, Rajesh Kachhap & Naman Bixal Kongari). The FIR will be transferred to Howrah where the three got arrested after cash recovery from their possession.

Hours after authorities nabbed a few persons in Assam for allegedly having links with terror groups, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently said that around 10 persons have been arrested and their statements recorded.

“Around 10 persons have been arrested, their statements recorded. Bengaluru Police have shared information regarding how the accused got funds from Bangladesh and their bank statements,” said Mr Sarma to media persons.

In a major crackdown in the northeastern state of Assam, 11 persons were detained on Thursday for their alleged links with global terror outfits including Al-Qaeda in Indian Sub-continent (AQIS) and Bangladesh-based Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT). One of the persons detained was also a Madrassa teacher in the state.

According to the police, the 11 persons, who were detained yesterday from Assam’s Morigaon, Barpeta, Guwahati and Goalpara districts, are “connected to Islamic fundamentalism” having links with AQIS and ABT. Further action will be taken as per the law.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while coming down heavily on the “Jihadi modules” in the state, said that a lot of information is expected from these arrests.

“From yesterday till today, we have caught two Jihadi modules in Barpeta and Morigaon districts of Assam and arrested all the people involved with Jihadi modules. This coordinated action along with the national police agencies, was a coordinated effort and we will get a lot more information from these arrests,” Mr Sarma had said.

According to the Assam Police, Mustafa alias Mufti Mustafa, who is an accused in the case, is a resident of Saharia Gaon in the Morigaon district, and an active member of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) which is linked to Al Qaeda in Indian Sub-continent (AQIS).