Border row: Mizoram police book Assam CM Himanta, 4 senior cops

The Assam-Mizoram border dispute took a bad turn on Saturday with the Mizoram police registering criminal cases against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, four senior officers of the state police, and two other government officials over the violent clash that took place on the outskirts of Vairengte town in Mizoram’s Kolasib district.

They have been booked under various charges, including attempt-to-murder and criminal conspiracy, Mizoram Inspector General of Police (IGP) (Headquarters) John Neihlaia said.

The FIR was lodged by the state police at the Vairengte police station after a gunfight between the Mizoram and the Assam police forces near the border town, he said.

News reports quoting the FIR said Assam police personnel refused to indulge in ‘amicable dialogue’ and acted under orders from the Assam CM on the day of the incident.

The four senior Assam Police officers named in the FIR are IGP Anurag Aggarwal, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Cachar Devojyoti Mukherjee, Cachar Superintendent of Police Chandrakant Nimbalkar, and officer in-charge of Dholai police station Sahab Uddin.

Cachar Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli and Cachar Divisional Forest Officer Sunnydeo Chaudhary have also been booked under the same charges, he said. Besides, cases were also registered against 200 unidentified Assam Police personnel, Neihlaia said.

The four police officers and the two administration officials have been summoned for questioning on Sunday, he added.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) stepped up deployment and at least five companies had been deployed as of now. More Central forces were expected to arrive at the troubled area soon.

An NDTV report said an all-party delegation of the Assam assembly intended to visit the border area on Monday.