Standoff at Rilan Yan village

 

The Dimapur-Karbi-Anglong border witnessed another standoff on April 4. This time, it was at Rilan Yan border village on the western periphery of Dimapur district. According to Rilan Yan villagers, Assam Police personnel tore down bamboo structures, under construction, within the village jurisdiction. The site in question overlooks an Assam Police camp and a newly formed settlement, a few hundred feet across.    

 
The villagers said that they were setting up bamboo structures when the Assam Police, along with Assam Forest and CRPF personnel turned up at the site in the late afternoon and directed the workers to vacate the site. They then started dismantling the structures, which were under construction, the villagers said. It led to heated exchanges between the villagers and the Assam Police personnel. A confrontation was averted following the intervention of the border magistrate from the Assam side and the Dimapur police. The Assam Police personnel left the site after a three-hour long standoff.  

According to the villagers, Assam Police claimed that no construction activity can be allowed in the site as it falls within Daldali Reserve Forest. On the other hand, a settlement was allowed to come up a few hundred feet from the site, the villagers said. The villagers further maintained that the site is well within the designated village boundary.