Opinion February 18, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Students kidnapped

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on February 18, 1985.

2 min readFeb 18, 2025 07:13 AM IST First published on: Feb 18, 2025 at 06:55 AM IST

Two Indian school students were kidnapped by 10 Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel from Narayanpur village, about five kilometres from Agartala, Tripura. The police said that one of the students, Parimal Deb, was severely beaten up while being dragged away by the BDR jawans. The state authorities have asked the Border Security Force to get in touch with the BDR officials and arrange for the release of the victims. The police, while revealing details of the kidnapping, added that the incident was a sequel to an earlier incident in the area where BSF jawans and Indian villagers fought off a BDR raiding party on February 7.

PM promises solution

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi said that the Assam and Punjab problems would be resolved soon. Addressing a series of election meetings in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Gandhi said the government had already taken steps to find an early solution to these knotty issues. He expressed confidence that a settlement would be reached at the earliest and that the government was trying to eliminate areas of tension so that it could concentrate on the planned large-scale development of the country. Prime Minister Gandhi also denied that he had ever advocated one-party rule at the Centre and in the states.

Pakistani navy

Pakistan has signed a $300-million deal with a British shipyard for three Type-21 frigates to bolster the strength of its navy. The warships are of a design currently with the Royal Navy but Pakistan will get the ships with additional beam to permit more armaments to be carried on board. Pakistan has also begun negotiations with the West German shipyard Blohm and Voss for the possible purchase of Meko-class frigates. This has been confirmed by Blohm and Voss executives in Athens. Pakistan has signed a letter of intent with the British shipyard Vosper Thornycroft to build two frigates in Britain and a third in Karachi.