Guwahati: Gunshots ringing out on the highway, puffs of smoke, a road suffering from stones and tear gas canisters and upturned vehicles of the roadside — the six-hour violence at the Assam-Mizoram border at Kolasib left the world looking sort of a battlefield and five men of the Assam Police dead and quite 50 people, including several policemen, injured.
Videos of the violence were tweeted by the Chief Ministers of both states. More made the rounds on social media, indicating that Monday’s violence within the area known for its volatility, has surpassed anything that happened within the recent times.
In a statement, Assam accused Mizoram of building a road destroying a Reserve Forest area in Lailapur and fixing an armed camp at the spot.
The state said their police team was attacked by armed “miscreants” once they visited resolve things . The Mizoram Police supported the mob and fired tear gas shells on the Assam Police.
When the Assam Police requested the Mizoram police to regulate the mob, they said they were unable to try to to so.
“Horrifically whilst whilst SP Kolasib was in talks with Assam officers, Mizoram Police opened fire on Assam officials and civilians… with automatic weapons and LMGs (Light Machine Guns),” the Assam government said during a statement.
Mizoram said it had been “unprovoked aggression” by the Assam Police, who visited Kolasib around 11 am, “forcibly” crossing the duty post manned by CRPF personnel and overrunning a requirement post manned by Mizoram police personnel.
The “Assam side were adamant and unwilling to debate ,” the Mizoram government said during a statement. “The confrontation continued and a volley of tear gas canisters and grenades were launched at Mizoram Police followed by firing from Assam side at around 4.50 pm,” the statement read.
“Mizoram Police responded spontaneously by firing back at Assam Police in spite of the very fact that SP, Kolasib District was still inside CRPF duty camp negotiating with the Assam Police authorities,” the statement added.
Mizoram shares a 164.6 km borders with Assam that runs through three districts on all sides — Mizoram’s Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit and Assam’s Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts — and violence within the area has persisted for many years . Each side, residents and security forces, accuse the opposite of intrusion.
On Monday evening, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has spoken to Chief Ministers of both states and asked them to resolve the border issue, to which they need agreed sources said. Mizoram had already formed a committee to seem into the difficulty .
