Violence reported on disputed Assam-Mizoram border

In a rerun of lastyear's incidents of violence on Assam-Mizoram border, severalshacks were torched and a number of people were injured inclashes allegedly between residents of the two states in adisputed area, officials said on Wednesday.

The incidents of violence and arson took place atKachurthol under Ramnathpur police station area of Assam onTuesday, prompting the authorities to clamp prohibitory ordersunder Section 144 CrPC in Hailakandi district, borderingKolasib district of Mizoram, an Assam official said.

The disputed Kachurthol is near Bairabi in Kolasibdistrict.

Officials of both Hailakandi and Kolasib said thesecurity has been beefed up the area where the situation isnow under control.

An opposition MLA of Assam urged Chief MinisterSarbananda Sonowal to protect people from ''armed aggression ofthe neighbouring state''.

The legislature party of the Mizo National Front(MNF), the ruling party of Mizoram, alleged that thedisturbances were created by miscreants from Assam.

Hailakandi Deputy Commissioner Megh Nidhi Dahal,Superintendent of Police Pabindra Kumar Nath and DIG (SouthernRange) Dilip Kumar Dey visited the site.

Kolasib Deputy Commissioner H Lalthlangliana said, ''Iam in constant contact with my Hailakandi counterpart. Nofurther incident was reported on Wednesday.'' The violence broke out when two employees of Mizoram'spower department and a member of Bairabi village council wentto inspect a power line and were assaulted allegedly byresidents of Assam on Tuesday afternoon, Lalthlangliana said.

They also stormed the compound of a religiousinstitution at Gharmura at night in which at least five peoplewere injured, he said adding that they have been admitted to ahospital in Aizawl.

''The Mizo National Front's Legislature Party Meetingheld today condemns the cowardly attack on innocent Mizos bymiscreants at Gharmura, Hailakandi District, Assam. I denouncethis vile act of violence against children, women and men,''Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga tweeted.

Suzamuddin Laskar, the local MLA of Assam, has writtento Sonowal and Director General of Police Bhaskar JyotiMahanta urging them to take immediate steps to instil securityamong the people living along the border areas from ''armedaggression of the neighbouring state''.

The Katlicherra MLA belonging to the AIUDF claimedthat around 30 people were seriously injured in the attack andabout 50 houses were burnt by miscreants from the neighbouringstate on Tuesday night.

Earlier on February 3, a school building was damagedin a powerful bomb explosion at Muliala in Hailakandi districtnear the Mizoram border.

Incidents of violence on the Assam-Mizoram border tookplace last year too.

Tension prevailed along the border areas for days inOctober and November 2020, after several people were injuredin a clash between the residents of Cachar district of Assamand Mizoram's Kolasib district.

A number of makeshift huts in the border area werealso torched at that time. Central armed forces were deployedon either side of the border and meetings chaired by UnionHome Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla were held.

A farm hut was set on fire and a plantation wasdamaged near Thinghlun village in west Mizoram's Mamitdistrict on August 9.

Only eight days later, there was a clash alongMizoram's boundary with Cachar district in which a group ofpeople torched makeshift bamboo huts and stalls erected alongNH-306.

Three districts of Mizoram - Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit- share a 164.6-km-long inter-state border with Assam'sCachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts. Several dialoguesheld since 1995 to resolve the boundary problem have yieldedlittle results.