Six nations issued travel restrictions to Assam over law and order situation: Minister
Guwahati, Mar 25 (PTI): Six countries, including the USA, UK, Australia and Switzerland, have issued travel restrictions for their citizens against visiting Assam and the rest of the Northeast over the law and order situation in the region, Assam Tourism Minister Ranjeet Kumar Dass informed the assembly on Tuesday.
Dass was replying to a query from Congress MLA Rekibuddin Ahmed.
The countries that have issued the restrictions are the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Canada and Switzerland.
The restrictions are for Assam as well as other northeastern states citing the law and order situation, he said.
Dass said the Tourism Department, on behalf of the state government, is in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs to persuade these countries to lift these restrictions.
"A high-level team from Australia had recently visited Assam to look into this aspect," the minister added.
He further said the number of tourists visiting the state in the 2022-23 fiscal was 98,31,141, which had dropped to 70,67,335 in 2023-24 and was at 67,88,565 in 2024-25 (till January).
On the promotion of tea tourism, Dass said the 'Promotion and Development of Tea Tourism Infrastructure in Assam' scheme was taken up by the state government in 2022-23.
Under the scheme, selected tea gardens will receive Rs 2 crore grant for the development of tourism potential and heritage bungalows.
A total of 22 tea gardens were selected in the first phase and another 34 in the second phase under the scheme, the minister added.
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Man kills woman lecturer, sets car ablaze; dies by suicide in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): A 46-year-old man allegedly killed a woman lecturer by setting fire to the car with her inside, before dying by suicide; his severed body was found by railway police the next day, police said on Tuesday.
The deceased, identified as Ramanjinappa, a resident of Doddaballapura, was a contract worker in the tahsildar’s office, they said.
Police said the man, who was married and had apparently separated from his wife, was in an illicit relationship with a woman identified as Saroja, whose charred body was found inside a gutted car in an isolated area near the Bashetty Industrial Area in Doddaballapura taluk on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Saroja was also married and had a son, police said.
According to police, on Saturday, the man allegedly borrowed a car from an acquaintance, claiming he had a medical emergency and needed to visit a hospital.
Citing preliminary investigations, a senior police officer said the man picked up the lecturer from a bus stop in Devanahalli. The two spent a couple of hours driving around Nandi Hills and nearby areas.
Later, they reached a secluded spot in Doddaballapura, where it is suspected that an argument ensued inside the car, following which he allegedly hit her on the head with a hammer, the officer said.
He then set the car on fire, reportedly using petrol, and is believed to have died by suicide thereafter, police said.
Locals who saw the burning car alerted the police and fire department, who rushed to the spot, extinguished the fire, and found the woman’s body completely charred inside the vehicle, the officer added.
His severed body was found near railway tracks in Bidadi by the railway police on Sunday, he said.
The motive and whether the crime was premeditated or impulsive are under investigation, he said.
Saroja’s husband filed a complaint accusing Ramanjinappa of killing her, police said, adding that a detailed investigation is underway to establish the exact sequence of events.
