Nagaland police personnel remained firmly ensconced in a hut erected reportedly on Monday by Nagaland administration.

The impasse along the Assam-Nagaland border at Dissoi Valley Reserve Forest under Mariani Range of Jorhat Forest Division continued for the third day on Thursday.

The Nagaland police personnel remained firmly ensconced in a hut erected reportedly on Monday by Nagaland administration within the said Reserve Forest area.

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Responding to the encroachment, Assam police personnel too erected a temporary camp on Wednesday near the spot to prevent any further incursions by Nagaland administration and maintained this position.

A senior district administration official said that the stalemate at the site along the inter-state border continued.

The official said that efforts to pursue the Nagaland administration to vacate the area by Nagaland armed policemen and dismantle the structure put up by them continued on Thursday with officials of Jorhat and Mokokchung, Nagaland holding talks at the site over the impasse.

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He said that the police force was deployed by the Jorhat district administration to deal with any kind of situation that may arise due to the ongoing row.

The official said that a close watch was kept by the administration round the clock with senior district and police officials camping at the area and higher authorities of the State Government being briefed on the situation.

A source said that the structure had been erected on a disputed border area and was in violation of the Supreme Court directive to both sides to maintain the status quo.

“The Nagaland administration maintains that they had set up a Covid care centre, which is a laugh, given the remoteness of the place,” the source said.

A district administration source said that the Assam police personnel had blocked the main entry and exit point to the hillock, where the Nagaland policemen were camping, in order to prevent any possible bid to encroach further.

Despite chief secretary-level talks being held at Dimapur in September to discuss the decades-old border row between Assam and Nagaland, in which top police officials were attended, the Nagaland administration is going ahead with alleged encroachment activities.

The Assam-Nagaland boundary impasse that has been going on for several decades and has led to rising of tension along the border areas and on a few occasions has also resulted in bloodshed.

 

Smita Bhattacharyya is Northeast Now Correspondent in Jorhat. She can be reached at: [email protected]