Abhishek Saha

AFTER BARRING those with more than two children from government jobs and from contesting local elections, the Assam government proposes to extend its two-child policy for availing benefits under specific schemes funded by the state.

The proposed population control policy will, however, not be applicable in all the schemes in Assam immediately as many of the benefits are offered by the central government, Himanta Biswa Sarma said at a press conference here.

Congress, meanwhile, suspended him from its primary membership for “anti-party activities”.

Police said that one of the accused took the policemen to a spot on the pretext of recovering a mobile phone and tried to attack them using a machete which was hidden there.

Kokrajhar SP Thube Prateek Vijay Kumar told The Indian Express that the post-mortem report is yet to come out. But, he added, the seven people arrested in the case have “confessed” to raping the girls — aged 14 and 16 — and killing them.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who had visited the families Sunday and directed the state police to conduct an expeditious investigation into the case, tweeted Tuesday that the case was solved.

The family of the girls, who were aged 14 and 16 and found hanging from a tree, has alleged that they were murdered.

“Prima facie it appears to be a case of suicide but we are investigating all aspects. If it was a suicide, we will find the cause for the same and if it was a murder, we will nab the perpetrators soon," said Thube Prateek Vijay Kumar, SP of Kokrajhar.

Following his death, a mob pelted stones and ransacked the local police station and a hospital late on Wednesday night over excess police action.

Speaking in the context of the recent eviction of unauthorised settlers, Sarma said those criticising his government should instead think of “how to practice small family size”.

In super-speciality hospitals, Mahanta said the price cap for a bed in a general ward would be Rs 5,000 per day, in a shared cabin Rs 6,500 per day, in ICU without ventilator Rs 10,000 per day and in ICU with ventilator, Rs 15,000 per day.

The GoM was formed after the states and Centre had differing views on the reduction in tax rates for these items in the 43rd GST Council meeting on May 28.

Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association’s Assam unit Wednesday called on all doctors in the state to abstain from outdoor patient services as a token protest.

Jagpal Singh Dhanoa, SP of EJH district, said, “The main culprit, according to the eyewitnesses is the ‘sordar’ Nizam Ali, who did nothing to rescue the trapped labourers. Rather, Ali threatened the survivors with dire consequences and chased them away from the mining site.”

The scheme also promises assistance towards marriage of young women who have lost their parents to Covid, including a one-time financial package, one tola of gold and an amount of Rs 50,000

Leho Ram Boro is the second legislator in Assam to die due to reason related to Covid. On Wednesday, Majendra Narzary, who represented Gossaigaon assembly constituency, died of post-Covid complications.

Tea garden workers will get the increased wage with retrospective effect from February 23, the statement added.

The man was cornered by 150 people who began thrashing him over allegations of him practicing black magic and witchcraft.

The CM also informed the House that the government is on the way to sign a peace and development accord with outfits in Karbi Anglong district in line with the signing of the Bodo Accord in January 2020.

A large cache of arms have also been recovered during the encounter.

In April, three employees of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) were kidnapped by the ULFA-I from Assam’s Sivasagar district.

In July last year, a sedition case was filed against Erendro over a Facebook comment on a picture of Sanajaoba Leishemba, then newly elected Rajya Sabha MP, greeting Home Minister Amit Shah.

The duo was arrested Thursday. Both the accused had said after Singh’s death that cow urine and dung were not cures for Covid-19.

The development comes close on the heels of two kidnappings by the outfit and a grenade blast killing two, for which the militant organisation is suspected.