CM Assam Himanta responds against FIR against him & 6 top officials by Mizoram Police

July 31: The border dispute between Assam and Mizoram has taken an ugly turn on Friday with the Mizoram Police filing an FIR against Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, Inspector General (IG) of Assam Police Anurag Agarwal, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Devojyoti Mukherjee, Cachar Deputy Commissioner (DC) Keerthi Jalli, Cachar Superintendent of Police (SP) Vaibhav Chandrakant Nimbalkar, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sunnydeo Choudhury, Dholai Police Station officer-in-charge Sahab Uddin and 200 unidentified Assam Police personnel. The FIR was filed under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including “attempt to murder”, at the Vairengte Police Station in Kolasib district of Mizoram, which borders Assam’s Cachar.

Responding to this, Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “Will be very happy to join in any investigation. But why the case is not being handed over to a neutral agency, especially when the place of occurrence is well within the constitutional territory of Assam? Have already conveyed this to Zoramthangaji.” 

The case was filed at Vairengte police station in Kolasib district of Mizoram by the local inspector, H Lalchawimawia. As per reports, the FIR alleged that on the instructions of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, senior Assam Police officials along with around 200 police personnel entered into the territory of Mizoram by force and attempted to occupy a police camp of Mizoram. They further alleged that the Assam Police attempted to encroach on the forest land. The FIR also mentioned that the huge contingent of Assam Police violated Covid protocol by entering into Vairengte district of Mizoram. Moreover, charges of attempt to murder and assault were levied against them in the complaint that was registered at Vairengte Police Station.

The FIR also alleged that civilians from Lailapur in Assam pelted stones at the villagers of Vairengte, which was followed by firing stun grenades and tear smoke shells by Assam Police. In the process, a civilian and a constable of Mizoram Police suffered bullet injuries. The FIR then went on to state that when the Assam Police started firing at the Mizoram Police personnel and public which gathered there, the Mizoram Police then resorted to firing in self-defence as well as to save the public.

“They had arrived at the spot with tents and other materials for construction of camp which clearly showed their intention to forcibly occupy the Mizoram BOP (border outpost) by force, as their convoy of vehicles consisted of ambulances and around 20 (twenty) vehicles,” the FIR added. The Mizoram Police in a WT message to the Chief Secretary of Assam asked the officials as named in the FIR to depose before the investigating officer of the case, who is the Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) at Vairengte in Kolasib district of Mizoram on 1 August 2021.

will be very happy to join in any investigation. But why the case is not being handed over to a neutral agency, especially when the place of occurrence is well within the constitutional territory of Assam? Have already conveyed this to @ZoramthangaCM ji https://t.co/v4eDi84isL

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) July 31, 2021

It needs mention here that Assam Police since the day of the untoward incident has been maintaining that it was the Mizoram Police who started the firing. Earlier, GP Singh, Special DGP of Assam Police in a series of tweets announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for information leading to arrest of each of the individuals involved in the barbaric killing of the Assam Police personnel on July 26, 2021. The incident took place at Inner Line Reserve Forest area of Cachar district, Assam along National Highway 306, around 1.7 Kms southwards from Lailapur Police Station in which 6 policemen of Assam died till now, while around 40 more policemen sustained bullet injuries including the Superintendent of Police of Cachar.

Meanwhile, the Assam Police has issued summons to Mizoram’s Rajya Sabha MPr and six state officials, including a Deputy Commissioner and a Superintendent of Police of Kolasib, for their alleged role in Monday’s border violence, which left six Assam Police personnel dead and over 40 injured. During a meeting on Wednesday called by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), it was decided a neutral central force will be deployed along the disturbed Assam-Mizoram border. On Thursday, Assam had issued a travel advisory asking people from the state not to go to Mizoram due to the border tensions and stating that the police would inspect vehicles coming from Mizoram in order to stop the business of narcotics. The travel advisory and search of vehicles from Mizoram by Assam Police irked the Mizoram government.

Also Read: Mizoram Police files FIR against Assam CM Himanta, 6 top officials & 200 unidentified policemen