“The situation along the interstate border is under close surveillance,” the officer said. (Figurative)
Silchar / Aizawl:
The movement of vehicles between Assam and Mizoram was halted again amid tension in areas along the interstate border, a senior official said Monday.
Locals in Lailapur have stopped the movement of vehicles to Mizoram for security reasons, said Bhanwar Lal Meena, a senior police official from the Cachar district in Assam.
There has also been no movement of vehicles from Mizoram to Assam since Monday night, he said.
The situation, although tense, is under control and no adverse incidents have been reported since Saturday, he added.
“The situation along the interstate border is under close surveillance,” the officer said.
A senior Mizoram government official said Assam was not abiding by the decision made at the meeting, chaired by the Union Secretary of the Interior Ajay Kumar Bhalla, between the top secretaries of the two states to ensure the movement of trafficking.
At the meeting on Sunday, it was decided that Mizoram will partly withdraw its forces from the border areas and deploy BSF personnel, while Assam will ensure that the blockade on NH-306 on its side is lifted by the Lailapur residents.
“We have done our best. Our forces have withdrawn and BSF personnel have been deployed to the disputed areas. But Assam is not respecting the mutual decision, as only a few vehicles were released as of Tuesday,” the Mizoram official said.
However, the Cachar SP said it has no information on whether Mizoram has begun the process of withdrawing its police force “from the territory of Assam.”
The Mizoram official said that some members of the state forces are in the disputed areas to provide security for the Mizo people until normalcy returns.
Citing that only about 40 vehicles have entered Mizoram from Assam since Monday, the official said: “We do not know what exactly happened there (Assam).”
Senior Mizoram (Northern Range) police official Lalbiakthanga Khiangte claimed that as of Tuesday evening, a total of 192 vehicles, including 174 heavy trucks, were released from Mizoram and entered Assam.
BSF personnel were deployed to the villages of Vairengte, Saihapui “V” and Thinghlun, where the border clash recently took place, he said.
The movement of traffic between the two states began Monday after the blockade on National Highway 306, Mizoram’s lifeline, was lifted after 12 days.
During the day, more than 150 women held a peaceful procession between Phainuam Buarchep and the “V” village of Saihapui in protest against the “economic blockade” and the alleged aggression of Assam. The protesters shouted slogans such as “We live in our land” and “We will defend Mizoram to the death.”
The chairman of the Mizoram People’s Conference Party, Lalhmangaiha Sailo, alleged that the Center was treating Mizoram detrimentally because it did not take concrete steps to lift the blockade.
Assam’s Hailakandi district police arrested 21 Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) activists for blocking the movement of a freight train to Mizoram at the Muhammadpur train station in the area of the Lala police station.
They barricaded the train tracks to stop the movement of a freight train bound for Mizoram in protest against the alleged “aggression” from the neighboring state, Hailakandi SP Pabindra Kumar Nath said.
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