Silchar: Fresh trouble erupted at the Assam-Mizoram border after a group of labourers in Assam alleged an attack with stones and slingshots by people from the neighbouring state over a road construction.
The alleged incident at Khulichera area in Cachar district, near the border, on Thursday came at a time when the two governments are trying to find solutions to the 164.6km-long-border dispute following the July 26 clashes that killed seven people.
While Mizoram Police refuted all claims of an attack and alleged forceful construction by Assam on their land, Assam Police said the work was being carried out three kilometres away from the border.
“They did not attack anyone,” Mizoram’s Kolasib district superintendent of police Vanlalfaka Ralte said.
Sharing details of the alleged incident, the labourers said that they were attacked by a group of masked men carrying guns and insisted that the accused were from Mizoram. One of them alleged that the group was attacked by around 30 people with stones and slingshots.
“Some of them were carrying bows and arrows and a few had guns. It looked like they planned to kill us, so we left the area. Hundreds of slingshots were fired at our vehicle and we heard a few gunshots too,” the labourer said, preferring anonymity.
{{/usCountry}}“Some of them were carrying bows and arrows and a few had guns. It looked like they planned to kill us, so we left the area. Hundreds of slingshots were fired at our vehicle and we heard a few gunshots too,” the labourer said, preferring anonymity.
{{/usCountry}}Cachar superintendent of police Ramandeep Kaur said the identity of the attackers were yet to be confirmed.
“Since the attackers were masked, we cannot say they were from Mizoram. The area is near the inter-state border which is a no-network zone. Our workers could not call for help immediately. We need to probe the matter carefully,” he said.
Kaur also said that the attack will not affect the construction work. “The rest of the work will progress as per plan, and we will provide adequate security to the workers,” he said.
Ralte, however, accused Assam of forcefully holding construction work on their land. “Assam is forcibly constructing the road on Mizoram’s land which angered the people here. They moved forward and tried to stop the work but did not attack,” he said.
To this, Kaur responded: “This is an Assam government-sanctioned work which cannot be in Mizoram’s territory. The work is going on under Pradhanmantri Gramin Sadak Yojana, three kilometres from the Mizoram border according to the Survey of India map. They are violating the agreement between two states and now trying to spread lies.”
Meanwhile, Carolyne Pachuau, an official in Mizoram’s Kolasib district claimed the overall situation at the border had improved ever since the violent clashes between forces of the two sides last month. Over 8,000 vehicles carrying essential goods have entered the state ever since the informal economic blockade by a few Assamese groups in Lailapur was lifted on August 7, she added.
Things have changed, trucks carrying essentials are entering smoothly. But common people are still a bit hesitant to cross the border. We are conducting discussions among locals from both sides. We want peace to prevail,” she said.
Police forces of the two states fought a pitched gun battle at a disputed border in southern Assam on July 26, in which six Assam policemen and a civilian died. Assam claimed Mizoram police opened fire on its forces who objected to a road being constructed by Mizoram on a patch of forested land it claims. Mizoram claimed the land belongs to it.
Tensions flared up immediately but eased after central intervention.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rules Assam and the Mizo National Front, a part of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance, is in power in Mizoram.
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