Akhil Gogoi with his mother in Jorhat on Saturday
GUWAHATI: Jailed activist Akhil Gogoi, granted parole for two days by an NIA court, has said that he was “aware of all the conspiracies that are being hatched against him” and appealed to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for ensuring that the norms of traditional democracy are sustained.
“The political scenario in Assam is changing towards that of Uttar Pradesh-type politics. There is only communal politics across Assam now. There is no discussion on solving the main issues of the state. We have to save our democracy. My appeal to the chief minister is that he should not practice UP-type politics here but ensure that the norms of traditional democracy are sustained. The politics based on democratic principles in Assam should not be turned into a communal and fascist one,” the Raijor Dal chief said after reaching his ancestral village of Selenghat in Jorhat district.
GUWAHATI: A freight train, which was allegedly travelling at a high speed, mowed down an elephant calf, at Gogamukh in upper Assam’s Lakhimpur district on Saturday night. The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has started a departmental probe into the matter while the state department has launched a probe into the incident. The forest department has registered a case regarding the matter.
Chief public relations officer of NFR Subhanan Chanda told TOI that the incident took place on Saturday night when a herd of wild elephants was crossing the railway tracks between Baghjan and Sarkarijan. “The herd was moving from Dullung Reserve Forest under Pathalipam Forest Beat towards the hills of Arunachal Pradesh. They were moving within the elephant range and got hit by the train which was coming from Silapathar to Rangia. We have initiated investigation and a case has been registered,” Dibakar Dey, DFO Lakhimpur, told TOI.