Land encroachment allegation creates tension on Assam-Arunachal border

Lakhimpur (Assam), July 19 (PTI): A group of people in Assam’s Dhemaji district has objected to an alleged land encroachment by some residents of neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, leading to tension in the disputed inter-state border area, police said on Tuesday.

They claimed that some people from Arunachal Pradesh had encroached on reserved forest land at Panbari to set up an agricultural farm and fenced the area, a senior officer said.

Locals on the Assam side had opposed it and removed the fence, while some miscreants from Arunachal Pradesh attacked an Assamese family and took away their motorcycle on Monday evening, he said.

Police personnel from the Bordoloni outpost of Dhemaji rushed to the spot, and discussions among the officials of both the states were also held, the officer said.

“The situation has been brought under control,” he said, adding that a strict vigil is being maintained in the area.

The incident happened barely three days after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Arunachal counterpart Pema Khandu had signed the ‘Namsai Declaration’ on July 15 wherein they had pledged to resolve the border disputes between the two states.

The two states had also decided to restrict the number of ‘disputed villages’ to 86 instead of the previous 123 and would try to resolve the issues by September 15.

The two states share an 804.1 km-long border.

The grievance of Arunachal Pradesh, which was made a union territory in 1972, is that several forested tracts in the plains that had traditionally belonged to hill tribal chiefs and communities were unilaterally transferred to Assam.

After Arunachal Pradesh achieved statehood in 1987, a tripartite committee was appointed which recommended that certain territories be transferred from Assam to Arunachal.

Assam contested this and the matter is in the Supreme Court.