Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 19
Tension gripped Rilan border village for the second day in a row after unidentified uniformed personnel entered the village on June 19. The villagers alleged that two vehicles reportedly carrying Assam Police (AP) personnel intruded into the village territory during the day.
The unidentified personnel further tried to demolish a half-done brick perimeter wall, construction of which was contested by the AP and Assam Forest department personnel on June 18. Construction of the wall was stopped the day before, after the AP, Assam Forest personnel and East Karbi Anglong district administration partially demolished the wall claiming the land was part of the protected Daldali Reserve Forest and part of Assam.
While stating that today’s incident was a repeat of the day before, villagers said that it happened as Rilan Village Council members were at the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Dimapur lodging a formal complaint to the Nagaland State Government with regard to the June 18 incident at the village.
The two vehicles, after briefly stopping at the disputed site, sped off towards Assam. Maintaining that the people in two vehicles were AP personnel, the villagers alleged that it was sortie to check on the activities within the village. “This kind of harassment has become a regular affair in the village, not to mention the fear psychosis it generates,” said one villager.
Alarmed by the unannounced intrusion, the villagers informed the Dimapur district authorities. It culminated with a meeting between Dimapur district administration officials and its counterparts from EastKarbi Anglong. The officials from Diphu were led by an official in the rank of SDO (Civil).
The villagers further informed that one platoon of NAP (IR) personnel were deployed in the evening to maintain vigil in the disputed area.
