Amidst border row, Assam man dies under mysterious circumstances in Mizoram

GUWAHATI: As Assam and Mizoram are locked in a bitter border row, a man from Assam died under mysterious circumstances in Mizoram.

The Mizoram government claimed the deceased was a drug peddler. The Assam government claimed he was abducted by the miscreants from the Assam-Mizoram border.

In a letter to Assam government, the Mizoram government wrote that one Intyaz Ali (48) of Assam’s Cachar district was apprehended by youth organisation “Young Mizo Association” on Sunday at 4:30 pm for selling 420 mg of heroin at Vairengte in Mizoram and handed over to the Excise and Narcotics Department at Vairengte.

“At 6 pm of November 1, he was sent to the CHC Vairengte for medical check-up/screening wherein he was subsequently admitted. On November 2 (Monday) at 10:30 am, he was found dead on his hospital bed...” Secretary to Government of Mizoram Lalbiaksangi wrote to Assam’s Commissioner-Secretary (Home).

The Assam Chief Minister’s Office, however, claimed the deceased was abducted by the miscreants from Lailapur Border Outpost area of Cachar district along the inter-state border.

Following the sequel of boundary disputes, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal sent the details of the incidents to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday. He asked the state’s Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua and Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta to rush to Cachar and take stock of the situation.

“The Chief Minister while expressing his concern over the boundary row asked the police to remain alert and thwart all designs that have the potential to vitiate peace and order along the border,” an official statement said.

Meanwhile, apprehending retaliatory actions, the Mizoram government urged the Assam government to ensure the safety and security of Mizos living in Assam.

The boundary dispute flared up early last month when at least eight people from both sides were injured at Lailapur. Several houses and roadside shops near the border were also torched. Earlier, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had held talks with Assam and Mizoram governments towards restoring peace.