Seven killed in militant attack in Assam

November 4, 2013

Guwahati, Nov 4: The death toll in the attack by suspected Garo National Liberation Army insurgents on a group of people gambling on the occasion of Diwali in Assam’s Goalpara district has risen to seven.

“Six persons were brought to the Gauhati Medical College Hospital and one of them was brought dead. One seriously injured has been operated upon and another four injured are undergoing treatment”, Hospital Superintendent R Talukdar said on Monday.

Three other wounded were admitted to Goalpara Civil Hospital and one in a private hospital, officials said.

Armed with automatic weapons, suspected Garo National Liberation Army insurgents from across Meghalaya had on Sunday night indiscriminately opened fire upon a group of people gambling on the occasion of Diwali at remote Gendamari, under Aagia Police Station.

Six persons were gunned down on the spot, while 10 others were seriously injured with one of them succumbing to his wounds on way to hospital, they said.

Those killed on the spot were identified as Bholanath Rabha, Amarendra Rabha, Jayanta Rabha, Puran Rabha, Kalpanath Rabha and Lulu Rabha.

Security measures have been intensified in the district following the incident, the sources added.

Goalpara district has been witnessing violence since October 20 last with protests against the upcoming Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council elections between November 13 and 25 demanding exclusion of non Rabha areas from the Council.

Sources ruled out that last night’s incident was connected with the Council elections.

Proscribed GNLA based in the Garo hills jungles of Meghalaya, adjacent to Goalpara district, has been fighting for a separate state since 2009 indulging in killings, attacks on security forces and civilians, blasts, kidnappings and extortions.

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Chaos continues as IndiGo cancels more flights including 73 from Bengaluru airport

News Network

December 4,2025

Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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