2 killed in firing incident near Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border; probe ordered

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said some miscreants were involved in the incident and it would not be appropriate to blame the neighbouring state for Monday’s firing incident

SILCHAR: Two persons were killed and two others injured when a group of unidentified men opened fire in the Panbari area of Assam’s Dhemaji district on Monday.

Assam director general of police GP Singh said senior state police officers are at the site. (Representative image) (Twitter/GolaghatPolice)

Police said the incident took place in an area close to one of the unresolved portions of the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary on Monday afternoon.

Reports said the victims were among those who had gone to a location along the inter-state boundary to make arrangements for a plantation drive to mark World Environment Day when they came under fire, Dhemaji superintendent of police (SP) Ranjan Bhuyan said, according to news agency PTI.

The two men who died were identified as Boga Chutia and Monitu Gogoi. The two injured persons, Puspa Gogoi and Akoni Gohain, have been admitted to the hospital and are being treated. Police said Boga Chutia was a resident of Borbila Chutiakari village while the other three were from the district’s Milonpur village.

Assam education minister Ranoj Pegu said Boga Chutia lived in his constituency and condemned the violence. “I strongly condemn the act of violence at the Panbari area of the Asam-Arunachal border in Dhemaji,” he said in a post on Twitter.

Assam director general of police GP Singh said senior state police officers are at the site. “Efforts are on to apprehend the perpetrators,” Singh said.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that he doesn’t want to draw any conclusion without accurate information as the police are still investigating the matter.

“There have been disputes over the border demarcation and the matter is under discussion. As per the information, this act was done by a few miscreants and it’ll be inappropriate to blame our neighbouring state or draw conclusions in a hurry. Police are investigating the incident and the truth will come out,” he said.

HT tried to reach out to the police department of the Lower Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh but did not get a response.