New Delhi: The trouble between Assam and Mizorm over border dispute is far from over and has taken uniquely peculiar turn with Mizoram police filing criminal cases against Assam Chief Minister HimantaBiswa Sarma and senior officials on charges of attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy.
The FIR was lodged by Mizoram cops at the Vairengte police station and all of them including Inspector General of Police Anurag Aggarwal, Cachar Deputy Inspector General Devojyoti Mukherjee, Cachar Superintendent of Police Cahndrakant Nimbalkar, and officer in-charge of Dholai police station Sahab Uddin.
Sarma and others have been asked to appear in the Vairengte police station on August 1. The clash took place on July 27 along Lailapur-Vairengte.
The Assam Police have meanwhile 'summoned' Mizoram's lone Rajya Sabha MP K Vanlalvena (MNF) on August 1 for questioning over his alleged "threatening statement" over the July 27 violence.
A formal notice has been 'pasted' at his Delhi official residence, sources said.
Assam Police also said it will take "lawful action" against the lawmaker but maintained a team of Assam Police CID, which arrived in New Delhi, has so far not been able to trace him despite visiting his residence and also the Mizoram House.
Mizoram government officials in Delhi reportedly refused to receive any notice served on Vanlalvena on the high-profile case.
"There are reasonable grounds to question you to ascertain facts and circumstances from you," the Assam Police notice says.
The lawmaker has been asked to appear before the Officer-In-Charge of the Dholai police station in Assam's Cachar district (near Silchar) at 11 am on August 1 "without fail".
Vanlalvena had reportedly said, as more than 200 Assam policemen entered "our territory and they pushed back our policemen from our own posts and they gave firing orders first, before we fired. They are lucky that we did not kill them all. If they come again....".
On July 27 and also later, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga and others have said the Mizoram cops opened fire only in self-defence. Five Assam police personnel lost lives in the unfortunate episode.
On Wednesday, the centre had convened a meeting of Chief Secretaries and DGPs of Assam and Mizoram.
Now a 'neutral force' under the command of a senior officer of the Central Armed Police Force would be deployed along the border.
Meanwhile, the Mizo Students Association in a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged that "disciplinary proceedings" must be initiated against central forces who failed to 'act' to prevent confrontation between two state police.
It alleged that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is using the language of "intimidation" as he seemed to be "irritated by the loss of lives".
Only on Saturday and Sunday (July 24,25), Home Minister Amit Shah held meetings with Chief Ministers of all northeastern states in Shillong and reportedly emphasized that the border issues between different states should be brought to an end urgently and amicably by 2024.
Statehood was granted to Nagaland in 1963, Meghalaya in 1972 and Mizoram in 1987 but the border disputes between Assam and these 'newly created states' after Independence have stayed on. Till 1972, Mizoram was part of Assam till it attained Union Territory status.
The Assam Chief Minister made a crucial reference to drug business along those areas.
"It might be that some people in Mizoram are annoyed after the Assam government curtailed the drugs trade chain from Myanmar to other parts of India via Mizoram and Assam," he has said.
A senior Home department official in Mizoram has said that drug menace in Mizoram, due to its proximity with Myanmar and Assam, had been a serious headache for the state government.
From 2018 till June, 2021, different law enforcement agencies in the state, including the state police, Excise and Narcotics, Assam Rifles and the BSF, had seized 77.845 kilograms of heroin and huge quantities of methamphetamine worth crores of rupees.
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