[ Bengia Ajum ]

HIME, 10 Aug: The Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary row turned violent here in Lower Siang district on Monday. The latest clash, which has left at least a dozen injured, came days after a similar boundary dispute had erupted in Tarasso in Papum Pare district.

As per reports, several people were injured in the clash reported from Hime village. The tension further escalated after the gaon burah (GB) of Hime village, Mikkok Ngomle, along with a police official and another villager from Hime, was reportedly kidnapped by people from neighbouring villages of Assam.

Meanwhile, the situation is reported to be normal now. "The situation is normal. The Assam and Arunachal police are patrolling in the border villages. The situation has returned to normal for now," said Lower Siang SP Bomken Basar.

As per reports, the clash between the people of Hime village and neighbouring villages of Assam broke out over a grazing ground.

"There is a grazing ground inside our Hime village. For so many decades, we have shared this grazing ground with neighbouring villages. But of late, a dispute over it has arisen. So, we decided to have a sit-down and resolve it," said a resident of Hime village.

A meeting was reportedly fixed for 10 August to resolve the dispute. However, on the same day, the people of Hime were called for a special intensive revision (SIR) hearing in Kangku circle headquarters.

"Due to the SIR hearing, we requested them to postpone the meeting. But they refused, and at around 9:30 am today, more than 300 people entered our village. They destroyed properties and acted violently inside our village territory. The incident took place almost 2 km inside Arunachal and not in the boundary area, as claimed. GB Ngomle and some youths tried to stop them, but the crowd overpowered them. The GB was kidnapped and taken to Assam," the villager alleged.

The GB has lodged an FIR detailing how he was allegedly kidnapped by the mob and taken to Assam.

As the majority of the villagers had gone to Kangku for the SIR hearing, the few youths who were present reportedly fired in self-defence.

Later, the deputy commissioners and superintendents of police of Lower Siang and Dhemaji districts arrived in the area and brought the situation under control.

Following intense discussions, the GB, police personnel and villagers were released by the Assam side after the Arunachal side agreed to release a youth from Assam whom they had detained in Hime village.

At least 12 people from Assam were injured in alleged firing from Arunachal.

The injured have been identified as Durgheswar Patir, Rohit Dole, Nagaraj Dole, Biggeshwar Patir, Pame Pegu, Sanjay Tayung, Utpal Dole and Jan Dole, while the identities of four persons are yet to be ascertained, the Assam chief minister said.

Meanwhile, a senior official said that all the injured were initially admitted to the Gogamukh rural hospital. Seven of them were later referred to the Dhemaji civil hospital in critical condition.

Of them, four critically injured persons were shifted to Assam Medical College and Hospital for advanced treatment, the senior official said.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said he has deputed a Cabinet minister to hold talks with the Arunachal government to hammer out the differences. He added that the DGP and chief secretary are already in touch with their counterparts in Arunachal.

Earlier, Sarma, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official function in Sonapur near Guwahati, said that a "localised incident" had been reported in Dhemaji along the Assam-Arunachal border.

"There is nothing to do at the state level as such. The situation has been promptly brought under control, and the tension has been defused," he said.

Sarma said Education Minister Ranoj Pegu has been deputed to resolve the matter, and that he is in touch with his counterpart in the neighbouring state.

This is not the first time that Hime village has witnessed tension over the boundary dispute. In 2018, tension flared up in Hime village after a contractor from Assam attempted to construct a road through wet-rice cultivation fields in the village under funding from the Mishing Autonomous Council (MAC). The tension was later defused following the intervention of members of the Galo Welfare Society (GWS) and the Mishing Autonomous Council (MAC). (With PTI input)