Assam

Guwahati, Aug 10 (PTI) The second attempt to shut Oil India's damaged well at Baghjan in Assam, which has been spewing gas uncontrollably for 76 days, failed on Monday when the iron cable to lift the lid snapped, the PSU said.

This was the second attempt in ten days.

The company said in a statement that when the blow out preventer (BOP) stack alignment was underway to insert the studs one of the two bull lines connected with the Athey Wagon, the equipment for fighting oil field fire which was lifting it, came out from the socket due to excessive heat.

Tinsukia, Aug 8 (PTI) A journalist was found dead in his office in Assam's Tinsukia district on Saturday, police said.

Bijendeep Tanti, the owner of news website 'Dinpratidin', was found dead with injuries on his body in his office in the Jyotinagar area, they said.

A woman, who was reportedly last seen with him, has been held for interrogation, official sources said.

Police said they are probing the case from "all angles".

The body has been sent for post-mortem, they said.

Guwahati, Aug 7 (PTI) A special NIA court on Friday rejected the bail application of peasant leader Akhil Gogoi, who was arrested for his alleged role in a violent protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Assam.

"The court rejected the bail application. We are yet to study the detailed judgement and find out the cause of rejection. Accordingly, we will move the High Court in next seven days," Gogoi's advocate Santanu Borthakur told PTI here.

Dibrugarh, Jul 29 (PTI) Oil India Limited (OIL) is planning dummy run of the final capping operation and subsequent killing operation at its Baghjan oilfield in Assam where a well is spewing gas for over two months.

Considering the critical nature of the operations, a dummy run is being planned to be carried out with heavy machinery before the final capping, a release issued by the energy major said.

Guwahati/Silchar, Jul 28 (PTI) Assam Assembly's Deputy Speaker Aminul Haque Laskar tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, the sixth MLA from the ruling BJP to get infected by the coronavirus in the state.

Laskar's driver has also tested positive for the infection, officials said.

"With a very sad heart I would like to inform that I have been tested Covid-19 positive (+ve) from the first swab sample test few minutes back. I was not feeling well was since morning (sic)," Laskar said on his Facebook page.

Guwahati, Jul 23 (PTI) Over 44 per cent of the 984 prisoners in the Guwahati Central Jail, including peasant leader Akhil Gogoi and student activist Sharjeel Imam, have tested positive for COVID-19, a senior official said on Thursday.

The Gauhati High Court has ordered the Assam government to provide the best treatment to prisoners who have tested positive for COVID-19 after suo motu cognisance of the rising number of cases inside the jails.

Karimganj, Jul 19 (PTI) Three suspected Bangladeshi cattle lifters were killed by a mob at a tea estate in Assam's Karimganj district, police said on Sunday.

A group of cattle thieves crossed the Indo-Bangladesh border and entered the Bogrijan Tea Estate Patharkandi Police Station area, about 1.5 km away from the border, on Saturday night. They attempted to steal cattle from the shed of a tea garden labourer, they said.

Guwahati, Jul 16 (PTI) Peasant leader Akhil Gogoi was on Thursday granted bail by the Gauhati High Court in three cases lodged by the Assam Police in connection with the violent anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in December last year.

However, he will remain in jail for the cases being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Hearing the bail applications in the three cases registered at Chabua police station in Dibrugarh district, Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak granted bail to the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader.

New Delhi, Jun 13 (PTI) Oil India Ltd on Saturday said it has suffered a production loss of 638 tonnes of crude oil and 0.46 million standard cubic metres per day of natural gas following a blowout and massive fire at a well in its Assam field.

Natural gas mixed with condensate started flowing uncontrollably from one of the wells of the company-operated Baghjan fields in Tinsukia district of Assam on May 27, 2020, leading to a blowout. The well caught fire on June 8, killing two fire fighters and injuring one.

TINSUKIA (India), June 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Around 7,000 people have been evacuated from the surrounds of a deadly oil well explosion in northeast India, authorities said, as environmentalists warned local wildlife was being hit by contamination.

Oil India engineers have been battling since May 27 to cap a blowout that this week ignited a huge ball of fire in Tinsukia district of Assam state.