Guwahati, Nov 30: Special DGP (law and order), Assam Police, Gyanendra Pratap Singh on Tuesday claimed that the Mukroh incident was not linked to the inter-state boundary dispute.
“This is a timber smuggling case…we have asked the forest department and local police to conduct a proper probe into the incidents of smuggling of forest resources in the area,” Singh said after assessing the situation during a visit to Mukroh.
The police officer said action would be taken as per law against those found to be involved in smuggling of forest resources.
“If there is any involvement of any person from Meghalaya, then the Meghalaya police will have to be intimated for them to take action according to law. As it is, the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal have laid elaborate guidelines on forest matters,” the special DGP said.
Asked about the uneasy calm that prevails in Mukroh, a week after the incident that resulted in the loss of six lives, Singh said, “The IG (law and order), DIG central range (Diphu), and the commissioner had camped in the village for about five-six days…There is a difference between the situation then (November 22) and now. We are trying to build public trust and so it will take some time for the situation to return to normal.”
He further said in “accordance with the instructions of the chief minister to transfer the inquiry to the CBI, we have written to the central investigation agency and the matter is currently with the central government.”
“The order of transferring the probe would be available in a day or two,” he added.
On the other hand, Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) chief executive member, Tuliram Ronghang, who accompanied the special DGP (law and order); the SP (West Karbi Anglong) and other officials to the village, said a meeting between the two state governments would be held soon to resolve the border problem.
“What happened on November 22 was unfortunate. We demand a CBI probe into the incident,” Ronghang said, while reiterating that the incident was triggered by timber smuggling.