Congress legislator from Mariani Rupjyoti Kurmi has alleged that he was shot at by Nagaland ‘encroachers’ along the Assam-Nagaland border, NewsLive has reported.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has directed special DGP, Assam Police, GP Singh to visit the spot and conduct a comprehensive inquiry.
Rupjyoti said the incident took place when he was touring the Disoi Valley reserve forest area, located around 5 km from Mariani town.
“I had received information a few days back that people from the Nagaland side had encroached on an area which falls in my constituency. When I visited the spot on Thursday with local residents and some police personnel, there was unprovoked firing on us from the other side,” Kurmi said.
Jorhat superintendent of police Ankur Jain said he visited the area on Wednesday to take stock of the situation. “A day earlier, forest personnel went there and uprooted some betel nut trees planted in the area. The area is a disputed territory between both states,” Jain said.
Jain said local police personnel had requested lawmaker Rupjyoti Kurmi to avoid visiting the area but the Mariani MLA went ahead. He was accompanied by local residents including minors in violation of the Covid-19 restrictions in place in the state.
The presence of a large number of people and security contingent in the disputed territory appears to have triggered a reaction, the Hindustan Times has reported.
The Jorhat district authorities are in touch with their counterparts in Mokokchung district of Nagaland to ensure that the situation doesn’t go out of control.
Nagaland Post adds:
When contacted Mokokchung police said that the MLA from Assam had visited the disputed are near Vikuto village under Mokokchung district. On learning about the presence of the MLA and his entourage, the villagers gathered at the site and shouted at them for allegedly destroying the plantation and some few huts. It was then that the security personnel of the MLA reportedly fired some blank shots before leaving the area.
In retaliation, the villagers reportedly fired two blank rounds of muzzle loading gun. Though the situation was under control, police said that investigation was on to ascertain the matter.