Blast on Assam-Mizoram border heights fresh tension; Mizoram Police apprehended
After an explosion near a police station and the arrest of a Mizoram policeman for his alleged involvement in it, new tensions erupted between Assam and Mizoram along the inter-state boundary in Hailakandi district on Saturday, according to a senior official.
According to Hailakandi Superintendent of Police Gaurav Upadhyay, the “low-intensity blast” occurred near the Assam Police’s Baicherra forward outpost about 1:30 a.m. on Friday.
On Friday morning, a Mizoram Police officer from the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRBn) was seen loitering in the area, unable to justify his presence, according to Upadhyay.
“We apprehended him and discovered his involvement in the blast after questioning. He was arrested yesterday and brought before a court, where he was sentenced to judicial custody,” he added.
The incident occurred just two days after Assam Police protested the construction of a bridge in the Kachurthal area on the Assam side, which had been abandoned after a clash in August.
“Mizoram had suspended building of the bridge after our complaint and the intervention of the Centre.” However, on October 26, they resumed work on it. “They fled the location without taking their equipment when we complained,” Upadhyay claimed.
The incident occurred three months after a conflict between police forces from the two North-eastern neighbors in Cachar district, which left seven persons dead, including six Assam police officers.
For decades, the northeastern states’ border disputes have resulted in clashes. Disputes between nearly all of the NE region’s interstate borders have remained unresolved, resulting in unintentional tragedies even among locals.
