GUWAHATI/AIZAWL, July 31: In response to the Mizoram police’s FIR against him in connection to the inter-state border skirmish, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that he is ready to join any probe on the issue.
Besides Sarma, who is accused of “attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy”, six other officials, including an IG, DIG and Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police of Cachar district, were named in the FIR lodged at the Vairengte police station on July 26.
In response to the FIR, which also included 200 unidentified Assam Police personnel, Sarma said in a tweet: “Will be very happy to join in any investigation. But why the case is not being handed over to a neutral agency, especially when the place of occurrence is well within the constitutional territory of Assam? Have already conveyed this to Zoramthanga CM ji.”
The Assam Police has also issued summons to Mizoram’s Rajya Sabha member K. Vanlalvena and six state officials for their alleged role in the July 26 border violence, which left six of its personnel dead and over 100 people from both states injured, officials said on Friday.
Officials in Guwahati said that an eight-member police team, also comprising CID officials, went to Delhi on Thursday to serve the police summons to Vanlalvena.
But they could not find him at his residence or at the Mizoram Bhavan in Delhi and pasted the summons on the doors in both the places.
The summons asked the Mizoram parliamentarian to appear before the investigating officer on Sunday.
Assam Police’s Special Director General G.P. Singh said that a case has been registered at the Dholai police station over the killing of the six personnel.
Meanwhile, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga hoped for an amicable solution to the border disputes.
Zoramthanga, who earlier appealed to maintain a calm and peace along the boundaries of the two states, tweeted: “I still hope for an amicable solution to the Assam-Mizoram border tension from the Central Government.”
He tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the region’s six other Chief Ministers — Prem Singh Tamang (Sikkim), N. Biren Singh (Manipur), Pema Khandu (Arunachal Pradesh), Neiphiu Rio (Nagaland), Conrad K. Sangma (Meghalaya), and Biplab Kumar Deb (Tripura).
The most violent clashes, seen so far, along the Assam-Mizoram border on July 26 left six Assam Police personnel dead and around 100 civilians and security personnel of the two neighbouring states injured, including an Inspector General of Police in Assam and Cachar Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Chandrakant Nimbalkar, who subsequently shifted to Mumbai.
IANS