Tension along border escalates again: Assam police fires upon Mizoram civilians

Three weeks after a violent clash between police forces of Assam and Mizoram, an incident of firing on Tuesday escalated tension on the disputed inter-state border again.

While Mizoram alleged that personnel of the Assam police fired on its civilians injuring one, the neighbouring state claimed that the men in uniform only returned the fire after miscreants from the other side of the border sprayed bullets on them.

The incident occurred on the border of Assam’s Hailakandi and Mizoram’s Kolasib districts in the wee hours. However, nobody was injured in the firing.

Assam Police claimed that they tried to intercept some unidentified Mizoram residents trying to cross the border and retaliated after being fired on. Assam didn’t clarify whether local residents or Mizoram Police fired the first shots.

Mizoram Police said some locals were going to their friends’ house on the Assam side when they were threatened by Assam’s force. Mizoram said it didn’t fire shots.

The DM said one of the persons sustained a minor injury on her arm when the three of them were fleeing to safety. She was taken to a hospital and released after first aid.

On July 26, police forces of the two states fought a pitched gun battle at the disputed border, killing six Assam policemen and injuring about 40 others. Tuesday’s firing happened in a different section of the border.’

A senior district official, however, told PTI that miscreants from the Mizoram side showered bullets in darkness from the top of Darasing Hills when workers were constructing a road leading to the border from Bilaipur under the MGNREGA scheme.

“In reply to the firing from the Mizoram side, Assam Police personnel also fired several rounds,” the official said.

Upadhyay said that he along with the Deputy Commissioner of Hailakandi, Rohan Jha, rushed to the spot immediately after the firing at around 2 am.

“Huge security forces have been deployed in the area,” he added.