NEW DELHI: Indian Home Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri told the Lok Sabha today (Feb 21) that 12,000 persons from Assam had left “on their own” during the last two months for Pakistan.

He also said that as an effective step to prevent what he called “infiltration” of Pakistanis into Assam, 1,315 persons were arrested during the last two months.

The Minister said that 972 persons were prosecuted and almost as many were convicted. He estimated that there were about three lakh Pakistani “infiltrators” in Assam and said that effective steps were being taken to prevent “infiltration”.

Replying to another question, the Home Minister said that Police patrolling had been intensified to deal more effectively with dacoits operating along the Indo-Pakistan border in Rajasthan.—Agencies

UN watch-dog body for South Africa

UNITED NATIONS: The President of the UN General Assembly, Chaudhri Mohammad Zafrullah Khan, appointed yesterday (Feb 19) a special committee to begin constant study of the South African Government’s policy of ‘apartheid’, or race-segregation.

The appointment of the committee was provided for in a Nov 6, 1962, General Assembly resolution. It is composed of representatives from Algeria, Costa Rica, the Malaysian Federation, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti, Hungary, Nepal, Nigeria, the Philippines and Somalia. —Agencies

114 E. Wing families leave barrage area

HYDERABAD: One hundred and fourteen of the 350 East Pakistani families settled in the Ghulam Mohammad Barrage area have abandoned their lands, refused to go back to their ‘chaks’, and are now living in hutments in Badin.

The Project Director of the barrage, Mr Irfan Ahmed Imtiazi was replying to questions by newsmen following a story published in a local English daily quoting the settlers that the lands given to them were “sandy, saline and unproductive”. —Agencies