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Tag: Assam-Mizoram border

  • Fresh tension on Assam-Mizoram border, theft case filed against Assam cops

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: Weeks after the violence on the Assam-Mizoram interstate border, the Mizoram Police have now filed a case of theft against unnamed Assam Police personnel.Mizoram’s Kolasib District Magistrate H Lalthlangliana alleged that a group of Assam Police personnel had entered Mizoram’s territory and took away construction materials.“They came to our side at around 12:30 pm yesterday (Saturday) and took away about five quintals of rod (TMT bars) in a pickup vehicle from a place where a bridge is being constructed to connect the paddy fields of our first Chief Minister, C Chhunga with the main road,” Lalthlangliana said.“So, a case was lodged against the policemen. I got news that about 100 Assam policemen came to the spot this morning. So, our cops had to be rushed to the spot,” he said.Kolasib shares its border with Assam’s Hailakandi district in the area of fresh tension.Lalthlangliana said during telephonic conversations with his Hailakandi counterpart Rohan Jha on Sunday, he had insisted on the withdrawal of the Assam policemen and return of the materials.“The Hailakandi DM requested me to withdraw our force. I told him that we shall do so only if they withdraw their force and return the materials,” Lalthlangliana said.Kolasib Superintendent of Police Vanlalfaka Ralte said Mizoram had to deploy the personnel as the construction materials were taken away by the Assam cops from Mizoram’s Bairabi area.“The Assam Police are about to hand over the TMT bars. That’s a goodwill gesture. If they return the materials, the case of theft will be withdrawn,” Ralte said.Hailakandi SP Gaurav Upadhyay described the charge of theft as concocted, baseless, malafide and devoid of any facts and an attempt by the Mizoram administration to divert the attention from the main issue – illegal construction by Mizoram on Assam soil.Upadhyay said when some Mizoram workers were found trying to build a bridge in Kachurtal on the Assam side on Friday, Assam Police personnel rushed to the area and stopped the construction work.“Next day, around 40-50 Mizo security forces reached the bridge and few Mizo security forces came towards Assam side of the bridge in complete violation of the joint statement issued by both states on August 5 to maintain peace in border areas. Moreover, when they were asked by local policemen to leave Assam land, they, in a brazen act of belligerence, refused to do so,” Upadhyay said.He said to assert Assam’s position and ask the Mizoram forces to retreat, 200 Assam cops and commandos, led by him, had gone to the site.“Being a responsible force, the Assam Police did not confront and are giving the respective civil administration a chance to amicably resolve the matter by stopping the construction and removing the Mizoram forces,” the SP added.

  • Tension eases on Mizoram border after Assam returns seized construction materials

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: Fresh tension on the Assam-Mizoram border eased on Sunday after Assam’s Hailakandi district administration had returned seized construction materials to Mizoram’s Kolasib administration.

    Trouble was brewing on the interstate border since Friday after the Assam Police personnel had stopped Mizoram’s construction of a bridge and seizure of construction materials (TMT bars).

    The incident had made the Mizoram Police file a case of theft against the Assam Police. Mizoram claimed the site of construction falls in Bairabi area of Kolasib district. Assam claimed it is Kachurtal in Hailakandi district.

    Mizoram’s Kolasib District Magistrate H Lalthlangliana confirmed the construction materials were returned by the Hailakandi district administration.

    “Hailakandi DM returned all construction materials, taken away by Assam Police on Friday, at 6 pm today (Sunday),” Lalthlangliana said.

    He said the case registered against the Assam Police would be withdrawn.

    “They had come to our side and taken away about five quintals of rod in a pickup vehicle from a place where a bridge is being constructed to connect the paddy fields of our first Chief Minister, C Chhunga with the main road,” the DM said.

    Kolasib Superintendent of Police Vanlalfaka Ralte said Mizoram had withdrawn the cops from the site following the return of construction materials by Assam.

    During his telephonic conversations with Hailakandi DM Rohan Jha earlier in the day, Lalthlangliana had stressed on the withdrawal of the Assam police personnel and the return of the materials.

    Hailakandi SP Gaurav Upadhyay said when some Mizoram workers were found trying to build a bridge at Kachurtal on the Assam side of the border on Friday, the Assam Police personnel rushed to the area and stopped the construction work.

    The incident comes less than a month after the July 26 violence on the interstate border in which six Assam police personnel were killed and scores of others, including an SP, were injured.

  • Chief Minister’s service medal for six Assam cops killed in interstate border dispute

    By PTI

    GUWAHATI: The six police personnel who were killed in a bloody clash last month in Cachar district, along the Assam-Mizoram border, will be posthumously awarded the ‘Chief Minister’s Special Service Medal in a crisis situation’, on the occasion of India’s 75th Independence Day.

    The state government will also honour the then Cachar Superintendent of Police Nimbalkar Vaibhav Chandrakanta, who was critically injured in the attack, and four other policemen with the ‘Chief Minister’s Outstanding Service Medal’, according to an official release issued on Saturday.

    The posthumous awardees are Sub Inspector Swapan Kumar Roy, Havildar Shyam Sundar Dusad, constables Samsuzzaman Barbhuiya, Liton Suklabaidya, Mazrul Hoque Barbhuiya and Nazrul Hussain.

    Besides Chandrakanta, others who will receive the Chief Minister’s Outstanding Service Medal are Inspector Mukul Kakoti of Police Commissioner’s Office, Guwahati, Inspector Satyen Singh Hazari of Biswanath district, Sub Inspector Mwblik Brahma and Constable Borsingh Bey of Karbi Anglong.

  • Assam blockade lifted, over 100 vehicles enter Mizoram

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: In a huge relief for Mizoram, vehicles started moving into the landlocked state since Saturday night following the lifting of an ‘economic blockade’ imposed in Assam.Some organisations in southern Assam’s Barak Valley had imposed the blockade on the roads leading to Mizoram, including National Highway 306, in protest against the July 26 skirmishes on the interstate border that left six Assam Police personnel dead.The National Highway 306, which traverses Assam’s Cachar district, is Mizoram’s lifeline. Supplies were choked since the day of the violence in the wake of the enforcement of the blockade.Official sources in Mizoram said over 100 vehicles, including goods-laden trucks which were stranded in Cachar, entered the state since Saturday night.”More than 100 vehicles have entered the state so far. Two trucks carrying COVID-19 items had set out from Cachar on Saturday night but they had to go back due to stone-pelting,” Mizoram’s Kolasib Superintendent of Police Vanlalfaka Ralte told this newspaper.He said the trucks, carrying COVID-19 items, would start arriving in the state from Monday.At the instruction of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, ministers Ashok Singhal and Parimal Suklabaidya visited Cachar on Saturday evening and they, along with senior officials of the Cachar administration, helped restore normalcy.The breakthrough was achieved after a series of discussions with the protestors but not before they attacked some vehicles with stones in front of the two ministers.”They (protestors) relented in the greater interest of peace and to maintain the age-old relations between the two states,” Singhal said.Mizoram Minister Lalruatkima thanked the Assam government for its efforts in engaging with the protestors and convincing them to lift the blockade.Mizoram Health Minister R Lalthangliana had on Saturday blamed the blockade for the recent deaths of COVID-19 patients in the state.“COVID-19 patients are dying for want of medicines. Seriously-ill patients are in dire needs of life-saving drugs,” he had said.Official sources had said the RT-PCR lab at the Zoram Medical College in Aizawl was facing an acute shortage of essential testing reagents which resulted in sample testing in the state getting capped based on the available stock. 

    Some drivers, however, remained reluctant to move their vehicles across the border.

    Rahul Hussain, a stranded driver, said they “were willing to enter Mizoram” but demanded a written assurance for protection to be given.

    The two states share a 164.6-km border between Assam’s Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts, and Mizoram’s Kolasib, Mamit and Aizawl districts.

    Both states have differing interpretations of their territorial border.

    While Mizoram believes that its border lies along an ‘inner line’ drawn up in 1875 to protect tribals from outside influence, Assam goes by a district demarcation done in the 1930s.

    (With PTI inputs)

  • Two ministers, home secretary to engage in border dispute talks with Assam: Mizoram chief secretary

    By PTI

    AIZAWL: Three representatives from Mizoram — Home minister Lalchamliana, Land Revenue and Settlement minister Lalruatkima and home department secretary Vanlalngaihsaka — will be engaging in talks with delegates from Assam to find a solution to the inter-state boundary dispute, a top official said on Wednesday.

    Mizoram Chief Secretary Lalnunmawia Chuaungo told PTI that the meeting of ministers and officials of the two states will be held at Aijal club here at 11 am on Thursday. Sources in Assam said the Himanta Biswa Sarma government will be sending cabinet ministers Atul Bora and Ashok Singhal to participate in the talks.

    A festering border dispute between the two states had triggered a bloody conflict on July 26, leading to the death six Assam Police personnel and one civilian. Over 50 people suffered injuries in the incident.

    Tomorrow the 5th of August, 2021 representatives from #Assam Govt. led by senior Minister will meet representatives of #Mizoram Govt. led by senior Minister.I am sure important steps will be achieved for the solution of the border problem.#NorthEastIsOne@himantabiswa pic.twitter.com/ToLc28TIIj
    — Zoramthanga (@ZoramthangaCM) August 4, 2021
    Taking to Twitter, Chief Minister Zoramthanga said that he was certain the meeting would help the two states arrive at a solution. “Tomorrow that is 5th of August, 2021 representatives from Assam Govt led by senior minister will meet representatives of Mizoram Govt led by senior minister. I am sure important steps will be achieved for the solution of the border problem,” he tweeted.

    Highly placed sources said that the two sides decided to hold talks to defuse the escalating tension following Union Home Minister Amit Shah intervention. Earlier, on Monday, Sarma had announced on the microblogging site that he will send two of his cabinet ministers to Aizawl to broker peace.

    ALSO READ| CYMA demands probe into involvement of outside forces in Mizoram-Assam border skirmishes

    Sarma’s announcement came hours after his Mizoram counterpart Zoramthanga declared on social media that he has directed the state police to withdraw cases filed against officials of the neighbouring state. The Assam CM subsequently said cases filed in his state against Kolasib Deputy Commissioner H Lalthlangliana and Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Thartea Hrangchal will also be withdrawn.

    Meanwhile, the “unofficial” economic blockade, allegedly backed by Assam government, on National Highway-306 in Cachar district entered its 10th day on Wednesday. A senior police officer in Vairengte told PTI that no vehicle has entered the state from Assam since July 26.

  • Assam-Mizoram border clash: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma pitches for neutral agency to probe issue

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday questioned the rationale behind the Mizoram government registering an FIR against him and six state officials over the recent border clash when its place of occurrence is within his state’s “constitutional territory”.

    Sarma said he will be “very happy” to join the probe but wondered why is it not being handed over to a “neutral agency”.

    The Mizoram police had lodged an FIR against Sarma and six officials under various charges including those related to attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy at Vairengte police station late on Monday after a gun fight between Mizoram and the Assam police.

    However, the FIR became public on Friday. The clashes, which also involved civilians from the two northeastern states, left six Assam police personnel and a civilian dead. Responding to the development, Sarma tweeted, “Will be very happy to join in any investigation….But why is the case not being handed over to a neutral agency, especially when the place of occurrence is well within the constitutional territory of Assam.”

    Sarma said he has conveyed as much to his Mizoram counterpart Zoramthanga. The four police officials named in the FIR are IGP Anurag Agarwal, Cachar DIG Debojyoti Mukherjee, Cachar SP Vaibhav Chandrakant Nimbalkar and Officer in Charge of Dholai police station Sahabuddin.

    Cachar Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli and Divisional Forest Officer Sunnydeo Choudhury have also been booked under the same charges. The officials have been asked to appear at the police station on August one. Mizoram police have also registered cases against 200 unidentified Assam police personnel.

    Assam Police, too, has issued summonses to six officials of the Mizoram government, including deputy commissioner of Kolasib district H Lalthlangliana and superintendent of police Vanlalfaka Ralte, and ordered them to appear at Dholai police station on August two in connection with the clashes.

    Other officials posted in Kolasib district who have been summoned are — Additional SP David JB, Vairangte Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil) C Lalrempuia, 1st India Reserve Battalion Additional SP Bruce Kibby and Vairangte Sub-divisional Police Officer Thartea Hrangchal.

    An Assam Police team, including officers of the CID, are in New Delhi to take “lawful action” against Rajya Sabha MP K Vanlalvena who in a media interview had reportedly made some statements indicative of his active role in the conspiracy, Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) G P Singh had said earlier.

    Meanwhile, Assam police is also updating a picture gallery of Mizoram police personnel and civilians who allegedly fired at the contingent of the state police on July 26 resulting in casualties. A reward of Rs five lakh has been announced for information that leads to the arrest of “each of the individuals involved in the barbaric killing of the Assam Police personnel on July 26”.

  • Assam border standoff: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma defends travel advisory on Mizoram

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said the people of the state should not visit Mizoram till all arms possessed by civilians are seized by the neighbouring government.

    The Assam government had on Thursday issued a first-of-its-kind travel advisory asking its people not to travel to Mizoram and advised those from the state working or staying there to “exercise utmost caution”. The Assam government is monitoring the situation but roads leading to Mizoram are still open, he said.

    “We have requested the people not to visit Mizoram till the situation normalises. Let us study the situation first. We can visit Mizoram when there is peace,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an official programme at Chirang.

    “When there are AK-47 and sniper rifles with civilians, how can you allow people to visit there? The Mizoram government should seize these arms from their civilians. People are apprehensive about this,” Sarma said in an obvious reference to the the bloody clash at the inter-state border on Monday, which claimed the lives of seven persons and left more than 50 people injured.

    ALSO READ| North East MPs Forum appeals to Assam, Mizoram to ensure peace along interstate border

    The chief minister defended the Assam government’s Thursday order which mandated the police to check all vehicles entering the state from Mizoram to stop transportation of narcotics drugs.

    “The drugs coming from international markets enter through Mizoram and then go to the rest of India via Assam. The Mizo people may not be involved in it but lots of drugs are coming through Mizoram. To stop that, we will be checking the vehicles,” he added.

    Sarma said that a CID team of the state police has reached New Delhi to investigate the alleged role of Rajya Sabha MP K Vanlalvena in the gun battle along the inter-state border in Cachar district.

    About the alleged encroachment of Assam land by people of Mizoram, the chief minister said “The Assamese people will be happy that this time not a single inch of land was grabbed. We cannot allow that. If necessary, we will sacrifice our lives but won’t allow our land to be captured.”

    At least six Assam Police personnel and one civilian were killed while defending the “constitutional boundary” of the state with Mizoram in the July 26 clash. The situation currently in and around the area of the clash continues to be tense but calm as a large number of CRPF troops have started patrolling NH-306 which runs between the two states.

    Officials in Assam’s Barak valley said organized blockades on roads leading to Mizoram were lifted and no group is now out on the streets trying to stop trucks or other vehicles. After the fierce gun battle on Monday various groups in the Barak Valley had announced a blockade of Mizoram, which drew sharp protests from the neighbouring state.

    Assam districts Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi share a 164.6 km long border with Mizoram’s three districts – Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit.

    The long-standing dispute between the two states has its origin in a 1875 notification which had differentiated Lushai Hills from the plains of Cachar and another of 1933 that demarcates a boundary between Lushai Hills and Manipur.

    Mizoram insists the inter-state boundary should be demarcated on the basis of the 1875 notification, a corollary to the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) Act, 1873. Its leaders have, however, been arguing against the demarcation notified of 1933, claiming that the Mizo society was not consulted, while Assam wants that notification to be enforced.

  • North East MPs Forum appeals to Assam, Mizoram to ensure peace along interstate border

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The North East MPs Forum on Friday appealed to the governments of Assam and Mizoram to ensure peace and tranquillity along their interstate border, and also urged the people of the region to remain united and live in a sisterly manner.

    In a joint statement, the North East MPs Forum Chairman and Union minister Kiren Rijiju and General Secretary and MP from Shillong Vincent H Pala also appealed to the two states to come together with the honest aim of resolving the long-pending border dispute.

    Five Assam Police personnel and a civilian were killed and over 50 others including a superintendent of police were injured when the Mizoram Police opened fire on a team of the Assam officials last Monday. The forum represents all parliamentarians from the region and takes up various issues concerning the region.

    “At this crucial juncture, on behalf of the Members of Parliament from the Northeast we appeal to both the parties and governments to adopt conciliatory steps to ensure peace and tranquillity along the border,” the statement said.

    Rijiju told PTI that the Northeast must remain together and live in a sisterly manner. The forum said the recent developments along the Assam-Mizoram border have been a cause of great anguish and regret to the people of the Northeast.

    “The loss of life and injury on both sides is a shocking and regrettable consequence, and we wish to extend our condolences to the affected families. At the same time, we must seize the right lessons from this unfortunate occurrence,” it said, and made an earnest appeal to both the states to come together with the honest aim of resolving the dispute.

    “We believe that for this resolution to be fruitful, the amicable participation of all stakeholders is crucial, and we look forward to seeing the restoration of cordial and harmonious neighbourly relations between the two states,” the statement said.

    Assam’s Barak Valley districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi share a 164-km long border with three Mizoram districts of Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit.

    After counter allegations of encroachment of territory over the past few weeks and skirmishes that escalated tensions between the two states, violent clashes were reported along the inter-state border that ended in the death of five Assam Police men and a civilian.

    The incidents came two days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah held talks with the chief ministers of eight northeastern states and underscored the need to resolve lingering border disputes.

  • Situation along Assam-Mizoram border ‘calm’: Cachar district official

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The situation along the Assam-Mizoram border, which witnessed violence and the death of seven persons earlier this week, was on Thursday “calm and under control”, a Cachar district official said. Central forces were deployed along the interstate border at Lailapur, while state police personnel remained 100 metres inside their respective borders.

    A strict vigil is being maintained with people not allowed to move towards the border as it is at present a “conflict zone”, the official said. Officials said that the impact of the “economic blockade”, imposed by a few organisations in some places since the violence broke out, has been partial.

    Security has also been tightened for students and Mizos residing in the three districts of Barak Valley. A delegation of the Assam Jatiya Parishad, led by its President Lurinjyoti Gogoi is scheduled to visit Silchar and meet the injured police personnel, a party spokesperson said.

    Explained: Why Assam involved in many border disputes with neighbouring states?

    Meanwhile, Cachar guardian minister Ashok Singhal, and Environment and Forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya visited the injured at Silchar Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday night and handed over cheques of Rs 1 lakh and a box of fruits to 35 injured policemen and two civilians.

    Five policemen and a civilian were killed, and 50 others were injured in an attack allegedly by Mizoram Police personnel and civilians from across the border on Monday, while another policeman succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday.

    Tension along the border with Mizoram in Cachar and Hailakandi districts of Assam have been escalating since October 2020 with frequent incidents of burning of houses and encroachment of land. The two states share a 164.6-km border between Assam’s Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts and Mizoram’s Kolasib, Mamit and Aizawl.

  • Assam-Mizoram border violence: Chief Secretaries, DGPs attend Home Ministry meet

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The chief secretaries and the police heads of Assam and Mizoram attended a meeting Wednesday called by the Union Home Ministry to resolve the ongoing border conflict between the two states which left five policemen and a civilian dead recently.

    Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla chaired the meeting which was attended by Assam Chief Secretary Jishnu Baruah and Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta and their respective Mizoram counterparts Lalnunmawia Chuaungo and SBK Singh, officials said.

    ALSO READ | Assam-Mizoram border violence: Chief Secretaries, DGPs attend Home Ministry meet

    “The central government is concerned over the Assam-Mizoram border dispute which led to violence and deaths of six people. The objective of the meeting is to lower the tension, bring peace and possibly find a solution,” a home ministry official said.

    The Director General of CRPF also attended the meeting as the personnel of the paramilitary force have been deployed in the Assam-Mizoram border areas where tension is high, the official said.

    Five Assam Police personnel and a civilian were killed and over 50 others including a superintendent of police were injured when the Mizoram Police opened fire on a team of the Assam officials Monday.

    Assam’s Barak Valley districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi share a 164-km long border with three Mizoram districts of Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit.

    ALSO READ | Assam Police prevents Congress delegation from visiting Mizoram border after violent clashes

    After counter allegations of encroachment of territory over the past few weeks and skirmishes that escalated tensions between the two states, violent clashes were reported along the inter-state border that ended in the death of five Assam Police men and a civilian.

    The incidents came two days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah held talks with the chief ministers of eight northeastern states and underscored the need to resolve lingering border disputes.