5 killed in violence on Assam-Meghalaya border, Mobile internet services suspended
HY News
22 November, 2022 03:19 pm IST
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Five people including a forest guard, were killed in violence at the Assam-Meghalaya border after the police intercepted a truck transporting illegal timber in the early hours of Tuesday.
Quoting West Karbi Anglong's Superintendent of Police Imdad Ali , news agency PTI reported that the truck was intercepted on the Meghalaya border by an Assam Forest Department team at around 3am.
As police reached there, a large number of people from Meghalaya armed with 'dao's (daggers) and other weapons gathered at the spot at around 5 am, the officer said. As the mob gheraoed the forest guards and the police, demanding the immediate release of those arrested, the officers fired at them to bring the situation under control, he said.
In the wake of the violence, Meghalaya government has suspended mobile internet/data services for the next 48-hours from 10-30 am today in seven districts of the state – West Jaintia Hills, East Jaintia Hills, East Khasi Hills, Ri-Bhoi, Eastern West Khasi Hills, West Khasi Hills and South West Khasi Hills.
This comes months after Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart, Conrad Sangma, signed an agreement in March to resolve the five-decade-old dispute in six of the 12 contested areas along their 884.9 km-long border between the two states. Union home minister Amit Shah called the accord historic and said 70% of the dispute will be resolved with its signing. Sarma and Sangma held talks to resolve the dispute in the remaining areas in August.
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