Six police personnel lost their lives in the ongoing Assam-Mizoram border dispute, chief minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma informed on Monday evening.
#Breaking: Six Assam Police jawans killed amidst Assam-Mizoram border dispute today, informs Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma. According to Assam Police, Mizoram Police opened fire at Assam Police at Lailapur @ZeeNews
— Pooja Mehta (@pooja_news) July 26, 2021
Tensions rose along the Assam-Mizoram border after reports of firing between the police of both states emerged. According to Assam Police, their Mizo counterparts opened fire at them at Lailapur.
Earlier today, the two chief ministers—Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma clashed on Twitter and sought Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s help to end the matter. Sarma had posted a tweet urging Chief Minister of Mizoram Zoramthanga to investigate why civilians from his states were holding sticks and trying to incite violence on the Assam-Mizoram border.
There is an ongoing conflict over land between the states of Assam and Mizoram. The statement from Assam’s CM came after Mizoram’s CM published a video from his official Twitter account urging Home Minister Amit Shah to take immediate action over increasing tension across the border between the two states.
On Saturday last week, the home minister held a meeting in Shillong on the border disputes between the North-Eastern states.
The dispute along the Assam-Mizoram border
The dispute has escalated in recent times. Cachar Superintendent of Police Nimbalkar Vaibhav Chandrakant said on Thursday that forces from both sides have been deployed in the area.
On Sunday night, eight huts that belonged to Mizo farmers were allegedly set on fire by miscreants.
Clashes had erupted along the border in October 2020 as well. Around 20 huts were incinerated on that occasion.
