SHILLONG: In yet another instance of alleged interference by Assam police reported along the disputed inter-state border, the police from the neighbouring state have stopped construction work of an eri-farming building at Madan Umwang village in Ri Bhoi district.
Addressing reporters here on Thursday, the village headman, Blickshon Mukhim, said the incident took place on the evening of July 29 when the Assam police came to the village and ordered him to stop work on the building, which was earlier dismantled in 2015.
Mukhim said he refused to comply with the order of Assam police on the ground that it was a project sponsored by the Government of India.
However, the superintendent of police of Hamren (Karbi Anglong) came to the village on Thursday and issued a strict warning to the headman to stop the work failing which he might also be arrested.
Mukhim said he had immediately sought the Ri Bhoi deputy commissioner CP Gotmare’s intervention in the matter.
The Ri Bhoi deputy commissioner had assured he would immediately take up the matter with the DC of Karbi Anglong, he told reporters.
The village headman however rued the absence of police personnel in the village saying they have been left as orphans to fend for themselves.
According to him, of the 90 households in the village, 20 families depend on eri-farming as a source of income.
The building was sanctioned at a cost of Rs 1.50 lakh.
Stating that the state government should immediately deploy security personnel in Madan Umwang, he expressed concern that the recent talks between the two chief ministers Mukul Sangma and Sarbananda Sonowal on the boundary dispute was heading nowhere.
“Both the chief ministers of the two states have agreed that there would be no problems when it comes to development activities, which however was never maintained as the entire responsibility was entrusted upon the chief secretaries,” he said.
