The residents of a Nagaland village allegedly detained a dozen Assam police personnel after they “inadvertently” crossed the inter-State border in pursuit of a car lifter on Tuesday (January 8, 2024) night.
The incident happened at Yajang village in Nagaland’s Mokokchung district.
Shwetank Mishra, the Superintendent of Police (SP) of eastern Assam’s Jorhat district, told journalists that the police team did not realise when they crossed over. He said one of the Assam policemen was injured in the commotion arising out of the confusion.
He added that the Nagaland villagers relented after the identities of the police personnel from the Jorhat district were established.
Mokokchung district’s SP, Vesupra Kezo said the villagers were alarmed by the arrival of the armed and unknown people in civvies.
“The Assam police personnel are supposed to inform us and the border magistrate before they enter Nagaland. The village authorities sought information about them from us but we said we were not aware because the Nagaland police were not informed beforehand,” he said.
“So, they were called to the residence of the village council chairman and questioned, as the men were suspected to be members of an extremist group,” Mr Kezo said, adding that he came to know about the incident after contacting his Jorhat counterpart.
“One of our police teams deployed nearby was sent to the village to contain the situation. The Assam policemen were released after their identities were established,” he said.
Some Assam police personnel were released on Tuesday night and the others were released on Wednesday morning.
Much of the Assam-Nagaland border is considered sensitive because of a border dispute since the 1960s. At least 150 people have died in intermittent border conflicts between the two States.
