5 people shot dead in disputed area along Assam-Meghalaya border

Assam and Meghalaya signed an agreement in March to resolve a five-decade-old border dispute between the two states

Assam’s forest guards allegedly shot dead five people from Meghalaya when they were returning with timber from a contested area along the border between the two states and forced authorities to block mobile internet services in the neighbouring districts to stem any escalation.

The firing scene. (Sourced)

This comes months after Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart, Conrad Sangma, signed an agreement in March to resolve the five-decade-old dispute in six of the 12 contested areas along their 884.9 km-long border between the two states. Union home minister Amit Shah called the accord historic and said 70% of the dispute will be resolved with its signing. Sarma and Sangma held talks to resolve the dispute in the remaining areas in August.

Eyewitnesses said the guards first fired at the tyres of the vehicles carrying the timber to halt them. The guards then allegedly fired when they realised they were outnumbered as agitated drivers and other occupants of the vehicles alighted and informed residents of a nearby village. Four people died on the spot while a fifth person succumbed to his injuries at a nearby health centre.

Unconfirmed reports said a forest guard also died and scores were critically injured in a clash.

Deputy inspector general Davis NR Marak, who is in charge of Meghalaya’s eastern range, confirmed the incident and said he was rushing to the scene. “Information is very sketchy right now and I am on my way to the location to ascertain the situation.”

Sangma convened a meeting of top officials to take stock of the situation as the state government notified the cessation of mobile internet services in seven districts for 48 hours. He announced ₹5 lakh each for the families of the five and said the Meghalaya Police have registered a case over the incident. “The details and contents of the case will be shared later.”

Officials from Assam were not immediately available for comments.

Videos circulated on social media purportedly showed an angry confrontation between two groups in the area. One of the videos purportedly showed uniformed personnel armed with rifles charging at a crowd. A person can be heard shouting the guards have taken out their rifles. A few seconds later, gunshots can be heard as people flee for their lives.

The two states formed three panels each in August 2021 to discuss the border dispute. Sarma and Sangma submitted a draft resolution to Shah on January 31 for the Union home ministry’s consideration after two rounds of talks between the states. The two sides proposed Assam will keep 18.51 square km and give 18.28 square km to Meghalaya. The agreement regarding 36 villages was reached in the first phase of settlement.

The dispute dates back to 1972 when Meghalaya was carved out of Assam. There have been different readings of the Assam Reorganisation Act.

Five Assam police were killed in an exchange of fire with their counterparts from Mizoram over a similar border dispute in 2021.