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Shah assures of CBI probe into Assam-Meghalaya border firing
Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday assured the governments of Meghalaya and Assam that the CBI will investigate the firing along the border between the two states.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday assured the governments of Meghalaya and Assam that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will investigate the firing along the border between the two states that led to the deaths of six people, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) said.
Six people, including a forest guard, were killed in the incident along the border between the two states in the early hours of Tuesday. While the Meghalaya government has said the violence occurred at Mukhroh in the state’s West Jaintia Hills and was the outcome of “unprovoked” firing, its Assam counterpart said the incident took place in the state’s West Karbi Anglong district when forest personnel opened fire to save their lives from “unknown miscreants” smuggling timber.
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Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma met Shah in New Delhi on Thursday and demanded justice for the lives lost and sought action against those responsible. The meeting comes a day after the Assam cabinet sought a CBI probe into the case and “advised police to restrain use of lethal weapons while dealing with civilian population”.
After Thursday’s meeting, the home ministry tweeted: “Meghalaya CM @SangmaConrad met Union Home & Co-op Minister @AmitShah today and requested CBI enquiry into unfortunate incident on Assam- Meghalaya border. Govt of Assam has also requested CBI enquiry into the matter. HM @AmitShah has assured that GOI will conduct CBI enquiry.”
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Sangma said: “We had briefed him (Shah) about the unfortunate incident that took place in Mukroh village of West Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya, where six precious lives were lost. We explained and gave a detailed account of circumstances which led to the incident as per the information received by us.”
Alleging that the incident was a case of unprovoked firing and excess use of power by the Assam Police, Sangma said: “We have requested the government of India to constitute a central agency enquiry into the entire incident, by the CBI or the National Investigation Agency (NIA) or any appropriate agency so that the truth can come out and more importantly, action is taken against those responsible,”
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“Home minister Amit Shah has assured he would act on our request for probe into the border firing today itself,” he added.
Sangma said he also requested the Centre to intervene in the border dispute with Assam to improve dialogue and trust between the two states.
The situation along the border site where the incident took place remained tense but peaceful and a large number of security personnel have been deployed in the area.
Restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC have also been imposed in the clash site and surrounding areas.
