Assam mulling handing over abduction and killing of man in Mizoram to NIA

The situation in the area has been tense since a clash broke out between the people of the two states on October 17 in which several persons were injured and a number of shops were damaged.

Silchar:The Assam government is considering to hand over the case of the abduction and killing of a person near the Assam-Mizoram border allegedly by Mizo miscreants, to the NIA, state Minister for Environment and Forest Parimal Suklabaidya said on Tuesday.

The minister had rushed to Lailapur on the Assam side of the interstate border on the direction of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday to review and take stock of the law and order situation there, an official spokesperson said.

The situation in the area has been tense since a clash broke out between the people of the two states on October 17 in which several persons were injured and a number of shops were damaged.

The man, named Intazul Laskar and a resident of Cachar district of Assam, died in custody in Mizoram on Monday escalating the tension between the two states amid the border standoff.

While the Mizoram police had called him a drug peddler who had crossed the interstate border to deliver a consignment on Sunday and was apprehended, the Assam police said he had gone missing from a forest where he went to collect wood.

Suklabaidya said the Assam government will institute an inquiry into the killing and IS mulling to hand over the case to the NIA.

He later handed over a cheque of Rs five lakh to Laskar's father at their home.

Assam Chief Secretary Jishnu Baruah and Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta also visited Lailapur along the Assam-Mizoram border on Tuesday to review the law and order situation on the instruction of the chief minister.

The Minister asked the people living close to the interstate border not to cross over to the other side in view of the prevailing situation and assured them that three border outposts would come up permanently for their safety and protection.

Later, Baruah and Mahanta told reporters that Assam will not move an inch from its territory and wants the boundary row with Mizoram to be resolved peacefully and amicably.

"Assam will not give up its constitutional boundary. The land belongs to us. There is no second opinion about our constitutional boundary," Barua said.

The Assam government is in constant touch with the Centre at the highest level on the border row and "We are optimistic that the problem will be resolved amicably soon", the chief secretary said.

PTI