“The situation along the interstate border is under close surveillance,” the officer said. (Representative)
Silchar / Aizawl:
Vehicle traffic between Assam and Mizoram has come to a halt again amid tensions in areas along the interstate border, a senior official said on Monday.
Residents of Lailapur have stopped the movement of vehicles to Mizoram for safety reasons, said Bhanwar Lal Meena, the senior police official in Cachar district in Assam.
There has also been no movement of vehicles from Mizoram to Assam since Monday evening, he said.
The situation, although tense, is under control and no untoward 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 respecting the decision taken at the meeting, chaired by Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, between the chief secretaries of the two states to ensure traffic flow.
At the meeting held on Sunday, it was decided that the Mizoram would partially withdraw its forces from the border areas and deploy BSF personnel, while Assam will ensure that the blockade on NH-306 on its side by the locals. de Lailapur be lifted.
“We have done everything on our part. Our forces have been withdrawn and the BSF personnel deployed in the disputed areas. But, Assam does not respect the mutual decision as only a few vehicles have been released until Tuesday,” he said. declared the head of Mizoram.
However, SP Cachar said it had no information that Mizoram had started the process of withdrawing its police force “from the territory of Assam”.
The Mizoram official said that a few members of the state forces were in the disputed areas to ensure the safety of the Mizo people until normalcy was restored.
Quoting that only around 40 vehicles have entered Mizoram from Assam since Monday, the official said: “We don’t know exactly what happened there (Assam).”
Senior Mizoram (Northern Range) Police official Lalbiakthanga Khiangte said that as of Tuesday evening, a total of 192 vehicles, including 174 heavy trucks, had been released from Mizoram and entered Assam.
BSF personnel have been deployed to the villages of Vairengte, Saihapui “V” and Thinghlun where the standoff recently took place, he said.
Traffic between the two states began Monday after the blockade on National Road 306, the lifeline of the Mizoram, was lifted after 12 days.
During the day, more than 150 women organized a peaceful procession between Phainuam Buarchep and the “V” village of Saihapui to protest against the “economic blockade” and the alleged assault on Assam. Protesters shouted slogans such as “We live in our country” and “We will defend Mizoram to the death”.
The chairman of the Mizoram People’s Conference Party, Lalhmangaiha Sailo, alleged that the Center was giving the Mizoram prejudicial treatment because it had not taken concrete steps to lift the blockade.
Police in Hailakandi District, Assam, arrested 21 Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) activists for blocking the movement of a freight train to the Mizoram at Muhammadpur station in the police station area by Lala.
They erected barricades on the railway tracks to stop the movement of a freight train bound for Mizoram to protest the alleged “aggression” of the neighboring state, said Hailakandi SP Pabindra Kumar Nath.
