Ordered police to use firearms in self-defence: Kolasib DM on NE clashes

Tensions between Assam and Mizoram had been building since last year and escalated in June this year when the latter alleged that Assam had encroached on its territory. Assam, in turn, accused Mizoram villagers of encroaching on its reserve forest land. A Ground Zero report by ETV Bharat Senior Correspondent Gautam Debroy.

Kolasib (Mizoram): Days after a clash at Lailapur, along the Assam and Mizoram border, shocked the nation, district magistrate of Mizoram's Kolasib H Lalthlangliana told ETV Bharat that the Mizoram Police used firearms in self-defence. He also suggested setting up a boundary commission to bring an everlasting solution to the issue in a time bound manner.

"The Assam Police and civilians from that side (Assam side) entered into our area and tried to capture the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) post situated there. They captured the IRB post and fired the first gun shot," recalled Dr Lalthlangliana in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat at his residence in Kolasib.

Lalthlangliana said he has ordered the Mizoram Police posted there to use firearms only in self-defence. "As a district magistrate it was my duty to protect my civilians. I authorised them to use force only in private-defence," Lalthlangliana said.

Six Assam police personnel lost their lives in the conflict on July 26.

When asked about the border agreement that was signed between both the states in New Delhi post the conflict, Lalthlangliana said a neutral force had already been posted in the region. "A CRPF camp was already there. In spite of that, the Assam Police tried to capture the IRB post and encroach our land," he said. He suggested setting up a boundary commission for a time-bound solution of the border conflict.

The tension between Assam and Mizoram over the decades-old border dispute began intensifying last year. However, it flared up recently with both the state police personnel clashing with each other. Lailapur, under Kolasib district, is the last border that divides the boundary between both the states. Following the incident, the Assam government registered a police case against Lalthlangliana and several others. The Mizoram government, too, registered a counter police case against several people, including Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and few police personnel among others.