GUWAHATI, Dec 8: A Nagaland-bound Congress delegation was barred from moving beyond Jorhat airport on Wednesday by the district administration in view of the prevailing law and order situation in Mon and other bordering districts of the hill state.
Party sources here said the delegation, comprising AICC general secretary in-charge, Assam, Jitendra Singh along with Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi and AICC general secretary in-charge, Nagaland, Ajoy Kumar among others, were en route to Nagaland to meet the families of the 14 civilians who were killed in a recent ambush by security forces, but were prevented from proceeding any further from Jorhat airport.
Earlier, the Congress delegation had landed at Jorhat airport by a flight from New Delhi via Kolkata.
A statement by the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) informed that the delegation also staged a sit-in protest against the “illegal detention” at Jorhat to stop the party members from proceeding to Mon district in Nagaland to meet the families of the victims.
“We had planned to meet the victims’ families in Mon district but have been detained at Jorhat airport. It is rather surprising why the Assam Police stopped us at Jorhat….when it should have been the Nagaland police if there was a law and order issue. So it is apparently clear that there is something hidden, and that our visit could have exposed the truth,” Singh said in a video clip released by the party.
Reportedly, the visiting delegation was to submit a report to party chief Sonia Gandhi within seven days.
Meanwhile, an order issued by the Jorhat district magistrate, Ashok Kumar Barman, stated that “there are sufficient grounds to prohibit their further movement considering the present sensitive situation along the Assam-Nagaland border area and apprehension of breach of peace and tranquility in the border areas of Jorhat district.”
“In view of the prevailing law and order situation in Mon and other bordering districts arising out of the recent incident in Mon district, the movement of civilians and others from Assam to Mon district is restricted by the Nagaland government. Considering the urgency in the interest of safety of the delegation and public peace and tranquility, the order is passed ex-parte under Section 144 (2) Cr.P.C,” it read.
“However anyone aggrieved by the order may approach the competent authority for modification /waiver/alteration /rescind of the order,” it added.