E-Paper
Assam residents block highway to Mizoram seeking withdrawal of troops
On Thursday, Cachar district officials visited Lailapur and held talks with the residents urging them to lift the blockade and also requested truckers to start plying their vehicles.
A week after officials of both states agreed to diffuse tension along the interstate boundary, the ongoing border row between Assam and Mizoram has flared up again with some Assam residents blocking the national highway to the neighbouring state on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, people from Lailapur in Assam’s Cachar district blocked the NH 306, the lifeline to Mizoram, seeking withdrawal of the neighbouring state’s security personnel from Assam territory.
Nearly 100 trucks on either side of the boundary have been stranded following the fresh blockade.
On Thursday, Cachar district officials visited Lailapur and held talks with the residents urging them to lift the blockade and also requested truckers to start plying their vehicles.
“The truckers said they were scared of going to the Mizoram side especially after the blast (at a school close to the border) which took place recently. Locals too refused to withdraw the blockade and made it clear they would not do so until a permanent solution (is found),” said a released issued by the Cachar district administration.
On Wednesday, Additional DGP (Law and Order) Assam Police GP Singh had visited the border area to take stock of the situation and also interacted with police officials of Kolasib district of Mizoram to try and diffuse the situation.
“We visited the school at Khulicherra where the explosion had taken place. We have decided to pursue the case under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Since the bombing may have been done by miscreants from Mizoram side, we are discussing on handing over its probe to a central agency,” Singh told journalists.
Earlier this month, several people on both sides of the border between two states were injured in clashes after some miscreants from Mizoram allegedly burnt down some huts at Lailapur. Locals on the Assam side had blocked the highway in protest against the incident.
On October 21, senior officials of both states had a meeting in Assam’s Silchar where they had agreed to restore normalcy in the border areas. Mizoram had assured it will call back its troops which had entered Assam side. Following this, trucks had started plying between both states.
Assam and Mizoram share a 164.6 km boundary. There have been skirmishes on both sides earlier as well as both sides claiming portions of land along the boundary as theirs.
