Assam Police Should Have Exercised Restraint: Himanta Biswa Sarma

GUWAHATI: The Assam CM gave his first comments about Tuesday morning's border incident in the presence of national media in New Delhi. The incident led to the death of six people including an employee of the forest department of the state.

Speaking about the incident, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that it was a problem between local people and the forest department and not a border issue as reported in the media. He added that the members of the police force on duty during the event should have exercised restraints

He also added that he had already asked for a detailed investigation into the matter to be conducted by NIA. Some officials of the Assam Police were suspended immediately and the Superintendent of Police was transferred. APS officer Indranil Barua has been ordered to take the position of SP in Karbi Anglong.

Abhimanyu Das, the Assam Police personnel who was injured in the incident also gave an account of the incident today. He mentioned that miscreants cut trees from Karbi Anglong side and loaded them on a truck before heading to Meghalaya. The truck was intercepted during a joint patrol of Assam Police and the Forest Department. They seized the vehicle as well as some of the miscreants. This was followed by the attack by local people with daos, jathis and jongs. About 200- 250 people gathered to free the miscreants and attacked the camp. Abhimanyu Das mentioned that he was hit on the back of his head with a dao before hearing gunshots. He also added that this was not the first incident of miscreants cutting trees or threatening forest guards in the region.

Meanwhile, Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangama visited the Mukroh village to take stock of the situation. He had earlier commented that the forces from Assam had entered the village at night and carried out an unprovoked firing. He had also asked for a CBI enquiry into the matter while mentioning that this incident renders the ongoing peace talks between the two states completely useless.

Vehicles parked in paid parking of the city were told to vacant the place by Meghalaya Police in the middle of the night and were then attacked by miscreants with stones, empty bottles and petrol bombs. Drivers in different places of the state also accused some of the hotels and resorts told them to vacate the premises at night citing safety reasons for the properties. Tourists from all over the world are now struggling to get out of the city as Assam-registered vehicles are out of the scene. Many of them cut short their plans of travelling in Meghayala before catching any possible transport towards Guwahati.

West Karbi Anflong PCCF also visited the beat office that was burnt by the miscreants and took stock of the situation. He mentioned that the situation will be reviewed with the district administration and take steps to maintain the safety of the forest employees.

 Also Read : Tourists Seek Safe Passage out of Meghalaya Amidst Conflict

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