18 Injured After Firing Over Land Dispute Along Assam-Arunachal Border

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: Grave concerns have been raised over an incident on the Assam-Arunachal border today, resulting in injuries to 18 people on the Assam side, of which 8 were found to be bullet injuries. Following the incident, meetings were held at the Chief Secretary and DGP level of both states to avoid escalation of the situation.

The incident occurred around 21 km from Gogamukh Chariali, in Badati village under the Mingmang and Kangku revenue circle, in the bordering areas of Arunachal's Lower Siang and Assam's Dhemaji district.

According to an eyewitness, land disputes have been festering in the area, and villagers from the Arunachal side were invited for discussions with the Mising people in Dhemaji district regarding disputes on 33 bighas of land. During the discussions, a hot debate ensued, and suddenly, gun-toting Arunachali miscreants opened fire, leaving 18 people from the Assam side injured. "Of the 18 people injured during the incident, 8 suffered bullet injuries. Of the 8 bullet-ridden people, 3 were shifted to the Assam Medical College and Hospital in Dibrugarh for better treatment," the eyewitness said.

Some of the injured have been identified as John Doley, Utpal Doley, Pema Pegu, Sanjoy Tayung, Bijeswar Patir, Nagraj Doley, Rohit Doley and Durgeswar Patir.

Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma reacted to the incident, saying, "To avoid the situation from escalating further, the chief secretaries of both states engaged in discussions. Enquiries will be held to find out who is responsible, and action will be taken against them. I have instructed the Assam Police to ensure that nobody is able to encroach on Assam's land. I think it was a localised conflict, nothing to do with the state as such."

Recently, several clashes over encroachment of Assam's land by Arunachali miscreants have taken place.  A tendency to occupy Assam's revenue and forest land has been noticed for some time now. When villagers and Forest Department officials of Assam tried to stop them from encroaching on Assam's lands, the Arunachali miscreants often resorted to violence.

The Assam and Arunachal governments have been making efforts to resolve the issue, and both sides reached an agreement during talks in Namsai in 2022. Following the 2022 agreement, an MoU was also signed by both states in 2023. As per the agreement, disputed villages were reduced from 123 to 86, and talks have been going on to resolve the rest. However, a section of Arunachalis refuse to recognise the agreement, and they continue to lay claim over Assam's villages as theirs.

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