Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and six top state officials have been booked in Mizoram on charges of attempt to murder and assault, in the wake of unprecedented gunfight between the police forces of the two northeastern states.
The Assam officers against who Mizoram police has registered an FIR are Inspector General of Police (IGP) Anurag Aggarwal, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Cachar Devojyoti Mukherjee, Cachar Superintendent of Police Cahndrakant Nimbalkar, and officer in-charge of Dholai police station Sahab Uddin.
The sections invoked against them include 307/120-B/270/325/326 and 353/336/ 334/448/34 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3 of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR) as well as Section 3 and 6 of the Mizoram Containment and Prevention of Covid-19 Act and Section 27(1) (a) of the Arms Act.
The four police officers and the two administrative officials have been summoned for questioning on Sunday, Mizoram Inspector General of Police (Headquarter) John Neihlaia was quoted as saying by PTI.
Assam too has summoned six officials of Mizoram’s Kolasib district and sent police after the state’s lone Rajya Sabha MP. PTI quoted its sources in the Assam Police as saying that the summonses were issued on July 28, two days after the bloody gun battle between the police forces of Assam and Mizoram at Lailapur in Cachar district, in connection with a case registered at the Dholai police station.
The six officials against whom the summonses were issued include Kolasib Deputy Commissioner H Lalthlangliana, its Superintendent of Police (SP) Vanlalfaka Ralte, Additional SP David JB, Vairangte Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil) C Lalrempuia, 1st Indian Reserve Battalion Additional SP Bruce Kibby and Vairangte Sub-divisional Police Officer Thartea Hrangchal. When contacted, Cachar SP Ramandeep Kaur confirmed the development, but did not share details.
On Friday, a joint all-party meeting of MLAs of Assam’s Barak Valley was held in Silchar Circuit House, chaired by guardian minister Ashok Singhal. A source said that a resolution was taken by them to move court against the SP of Kolasib for “the barbaric act” that led to the death of six Assam Police personnel.
They also said that action should be taken against Mizoram’s lone Rajya Sabha MP K Vanlalvena for his “unpardonable statement” outside Parliament.
The reason behind the clashes between the two states is a decades old land dispute between Assam and Mizoram over “improper demarcation of the state border”. Both the neighbours claim land on the border between Assam’s Cachar and Mizoram’s Kolasib distric, and accuse each other of encroachment.
The festering border dispute between the two northeastern states erupted into a bloody conflict on July 26 after an Assam Police personnel and a civilian were killed while defending the “constitutional boundary” of the state with Mizoram and more than 50 people injured.
The situation currently in and around the place of clash along the Assam-Mizoram border remain tense but calm as a large number of CRPF troops have started patrolling the National Highway-306 between the two states.
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