Mokokchung, May 24 (MExN): Tension prevailed in Mariani under Jorhat district, Assam, today when suspected Adivasi workers created trouble at Mariani. Two vehicles – a Bolero and an Alto – travelling to Nagaland via Assam were reportedly damaged and eight people, including two women were injured when a mob attacked their vehicles at Mariani.
The passengers had to be sheltered at Mariani police station and were escorted till Tsutapela inter-state check post in Mokokchung this evening. On crossing the Nagaland border, the injured were rushed to Mokokchung and admitted at the Imkongliba Memorial Hospital.
The day’s upheaval was the result of an alleged kidnapping of two tea garden laborers on May 23. According to available reports, two laborers, namely - Atul Kurmi and Ranjit Nayak of Naginijan Tea Estate were allegedly kidnapped near the bordering Naga village of Saringyim on May 23.
A press release issued by Er. Temsu Wathi Ao, Coordinator, Border Peace Coordination Committee (Assam-Nagaland) stated, “It is alleged that the two abducted persons along with few others were forcefully destroying cultivated crops planted by the Saringyim villagers for the past few days and they were caught red handed today by the villagers and handed over to the authority.”
The Nokpu village Council and Saring Nokpu B Village Council has issued a joint statement maintaining that it was not a case of kidnapping.
The statement from the two village councils stated that on May 23, the two were caught destroying plantations on ancestral land belonging to the village. The two were later handed over to the police stationed at Longchem, under Moangkolemba sub-division, Mokokchung, the statement said.
The episode did not end there. This time again, innocent people traversing Assam unaware of the incident bore the brunt of similar retaliatory actions. The tea tribes’ community led by the All Assam Tea Tribes’ Students Association (AATTSA) converged on May 24 at Mariani police station demanding the arrest of the persons responsible for the alleged kidnapping. The situation turned violent as the protestor’s surrounded the police station, while venting their anger on vehicles from Nagaland passing through Mariani.
Naginijan Tea Estate and Saringyim fall along the Assam-Nagaland. The former lies in close proximity to Mariani, falling within Jorhat district in Assam and the latter in Mokokchung district, Nagaland. This stretch of the inter-state boundary has been prone to tension and sporadic clashes between people on both sides of the border, often resulting in blockades of arterial roads leading to Nagaland from Assam.
Meanwhile, commercial taxis from Mokokchung to Dimapur turned back from Tsutepela gate and took the Kohima road to Mokokchung. It is reported that around twenty to thirty trucks remain stranded at Tsutapela gate till late this evening. The situation on the other side of the border is said to be under control.
However, it was learnt that the AATTSA have imposed a road-blockade in Mariani on vehicles from Nagaland. The association is said to have issued an ultimatum to the authorities in Assam to nab the persons responsible for the alleged kidnapping. The AATTSA has given the authorities until 10:00 am May 25 to do so, failing which a total blockade would start on roads leading to Nagaland.
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