Crops, properties destroyed in Nagaland’s Yannu village over land dispute

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Aug. 18 (EMN): The land dispute between Yannu village in Tizit sub-division of Mon district and Yanyin range took an ugly turn on Wednesday with crops and properties belonging to the former being destroyed by a large group of people allegedly belonging to the latter.

The deputy commissioner of Mon, Thavaseelan K, informed Eastern Mirror that some huts and properties belonging to Yannu village were damaged by a large number of people from a neighbouring village “because they have several land dispute in that particular area”.

He said that similar incidents had happened in the past as well and so police personnel were deployed but they were unable to “respond effectively” due to the size of the crowd.

He informed that the police officers, administrative officers and others had gone to the area on Wednesday to restore peace after the incident and that they would clamp section 144 of CrPC or curfew to maintain the status quo in the area.

He further stated that it was an old disputed area and the people had issues in the past as well. It is a matter of determining which land belongs to whom and so it has to be solved in a traditional method and that is the eventual solution “because the records are very inconclusive”, he informed.

Thavaseelan stated that they would clamp section 144 of CrPC to maintain peace in the area and ensure that no untoward incidents happen again.

There were no cases of injuries or casualties, he informed, adding that they will be able to ascertain the properties destroyed only after a detailed investigation.

He informed that the situation is peaceful and more police personnel had been rushed to the area.

‘This is a long-standing dispute and so right now our priority is to maintain peace. The Dobashi court is also looking into solving the issue through customary law,’ he said, adding that legal action would be taken against those responsible, while trying to solve the larger land dispute.