Assam, Mizoram policemen face-off on state border

The conflict had first begun on Sunday after Assam Police and Forest Department personnel, along with a few locals, dismantled the houses of Mizo farmers.

Tension escalated between police forces of Assam and Mizoram Tuesday as armed personnel of both sides were deployed on disputed land at the inter-state border between Assam’s Hailakandi district and Mizoram’s Kolasib district.

The conflict had first begun on Sunday after Assam Police and Forest Department personnel, along with a few locals, dismantled the houses of Mizo farmers near Buhchang village in Mizoram. They had also allegedly ordered the farmers to leave the area within three days as they claimed the land belonged to Assam.

A senior Assam Police official posted in Hailakandi district said over the phone the land was part of the state’s 21st IR battalion camp, and that the houses on the farmland were built illegally.

On Monday, however, the Mizoram police lodged a case of dacoity against the Assam personnel and dispatched two platoons of armed police from its 1st IR battalion along the disputed area, while Mizoram locals from nearby areas rebuilt the dismantles houses.

But on Tuesday afternoon, as the Mizoram police personnel who were on duty were being replaced by their colleagues, about 30 Assam Police personnel entered the farmland and dismantled the houses again, Mizoram’s IGP Zorammawia said.

By Tuesday evening the armed personnel from both forces stood practically face-to-face with just a strip of farmland between them, sources on the ground said.

A team led by Mizoram Home Minister R Lalzirliana is scheduled to visit the area on Wednesday.

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