Guwahati: Assam Congress MLA Rumi Nath was on Tuesday arrested for her alleged links with car thief Anil Chauhan.

Chauhan is the kingpin of an auto theft racket that operates in Delhi and Mumbai.

"We have arrested her from the MLA hostel at around 7 am. At present, she has been kept at Dispur Police Station. During the day, we'll produce her in court and seek police remand," Assistant Commissioner of Police Suprotive Lal Barua said.

She was arrested in connection with her alleged "links with a car theft gang" under sections 120(B), 420, 212 of the IPC, which stands for criminal conspiracy, cheating and harbouring offender, he said.

 
On Monday, the Congress MLA had appeared before the press and said that she was not absconding.

"I have no connection with Chauhan but only know his wife who was also a Congress worker. This is just a political conspiracy to defame me," she said.

"I have full faith in the law of the land and will cooperate with the police at every step," the MLA said.

The Gauhati High Court has rejected two interim anticipatory bail applications of the MLA in connection with two cases in different police stations in the state.

She filed for anticipatory bail for both cases on April nine following the arrest of her estranged second husband Jacky Zakir in connection with the car theft cases.

The main accused Chauhan was arrested on April 3 while Zakir was picked up on April 8 from his house at Badarpur in Karimganj district. Her Personal Security Officer Bedabrata Barpatra Gohain was also arrested on the same day.

Police said it was found during investigation that Chauhan, wanted in a number of cases in Delhi and Mumbai besides other states, was issued Assembly car passes on the recommendation of the Congress MLA.

Karnataka placed themselves in the drivers’ seat as they piled on a huge 452 all out in their first innings before reducing Assam to 58 for three on the second day of their Ranji Trophy cricket quarterfinal match in Indore on Tuesday.

Resuming the day at 302 for 2, Karnataka added 150 runs in 54.2 overs today before they were all out for 452 in their first innings. Opener Robin Uthappa had scored 153 yesterday to lay the foundation of a strong total.

One-down Ravikumar Samarth could add just seven runs to their overnight 39 while Manish Pandey contributed 36.

Wicketkeeper Chidhambaram Gautam scored 44 not out while Shreyas Gopal made 38 lower down the order.

For Assam, Krishna Das was the most successful bowler with figures of 4/101.

In their reply, three Assam top-order batsmen were out cheaply as they ended the day at 58 for 3 in 27 overs. Openers Pallavkumar Das and Sibsankar Roy were out for 11 and 16 respectively while captain Dheeraj Jadhav could only contribute 3.

At the draw of stumps, Gokul Sharma and wicketkeeper Arun Karthik were batting on 18 and 5 respectively.

For Karnataka, Shreyas Gopal took two wickets for six runs while Sreenath Aravind got one.

Assam now trail by 394 runs with seven first innings wickets remaining.

Brief Scores:
Karnataka 1st Innings: 452 all out in 144.2 overs (Robin Uthappa 153, Lokesh Rahul 91; Krishna Das 4/101).
Assam 1st Innings: 58 for 3 in 27 overs.

Environment activist Jadav Payeng was conferred with the Padma Shri award on the 25th of January 2015 in recognition of his service to society and the environment. We salute him and congratulate him for this recognition.

Majuli islander Jadav Payeng loved trees and greenery so much that it pained his heart to see his beloved island turn into a barren wasteland due to deforestation and flooding.

"All species on this planet are animals, including humans. The only difference is that humans wear clothes. There are no monsters in nature except humans," he says, "humans consume everything until there is nothing left. Nothing is safe from humans, not even tigers or elephants."

With no help from anyone, he started planting trees on this 550 hectare land in the year 1979.

Today, a vast green forest stands as proof of his effort and perseverance. 

Animals such as elephants, rhinos and deer roam his forest, and after 40 years, carrion birds such as as vultures have returned to the forest too.

But Payeng’s real test starts now. People and poachers lie in wait at every corner to cut down his trees or shoot down the animals that live there. Payeng says, “I will continue to plant until my last breath. I tell people, cutting trees will not get you anything. Cut me before you before cut my trees.”

Imagine if one Forest Man could do so much in 40 years, what we all could do in just one year?

Guwahati: A total of 52 people, including four women, were killed and 10 others injured in a series of attacks by suspected NDFB (Songbijit) militants in Sonitpur and Kokrajhar districts of Assam. Five attacks took place at various spots - men, women and children were mowed down with AK-47 bullets, sources in the police said.

Three more persons were believed to have been killed in Kokrajhar but police were yet to recover the bodies from the remote place. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the acts and called it as "an act of cowardice". A spokesperson of Assam Police said 30 persons were gunned down in Sonitpur district alone, while four were killed in Kokrajhar on Tuesday evening.


"In Sonitpur district, 30 people have been killed. While 24 were gunned down in Biswanath Chariali, six were killed in Dhekiajuli," the spokesperson told PTI in Guwahati. In Kokrajhar district, four deaths have been confirmed at Pakhiriguri, while three more are suspected to have been killed at the interior place of Ultapani, he said.

"All these people were killed in serial attacks by suspected militants of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) (Songbijit)," the official said. All those killed in Sonitpur attack were stated to be Adivasis, said Superintendent of Police Sanjukta Parasar. A group of NDFB(S) militants with sophisticated arms fired at people in Sonajuli under Biswanath Chariali sub-division in Tinisuti near the Arunachal Pradesh border, she said. In the attack, 24 persons were killed and six others injured, she said.

The incident site is located very near to the inter-state border between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Six more persons were killed at Batachipur under Dhekiajuli police station and the bodies of the deceased have been recovered, Parasar said. In Kokrajhar district, four bodies were recovered while three others were suspected to have been killed in two different attacks by NDFB(S) militants in the evening.

"The first attack took place at Pakhiriguri under Serfanguri police station in which four women were killed and four others were injured," Kokrajhar SP Sunil Kumar said.Three more persons are suspected to be killed in another attack by the militants of the NDFB(S) at Ultapani under Kokrajhar police station, he said.

"The place at Ultapani is very interior. The police party is reaching there to give verified facts," Kumar said. The SP said the injured have been rushed to a hospital in Kokrajhar town from Pakhiriguri, which is in a jungle near Indo-Bhutan border. At least three persons were seriously injured yesterday in six serial grenade blasts and firing in Kokrajhar district.

Meanwhile additional paramilitary personnel were being rushed by Union home ministry to Sonitpur and Kokrajhar districts of Assam where NDFB(S) militants shot dead 45 people tonight. Home ministry sources said it has sought a report from the state government on the series of attacks by the militants.

They said Home Minister Rajnath Singh is constantly monitoring the situation in the places of the attacks. Rajnath Singh spoke to Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and offered him all assistance to deal with the situation arising out of the massacre. He asked Gogoi to firmly deal with the situation.