Tension has resurfaced again along the disputed Assam-Nagaland border in Jorhat district after the erection of a camp reportedly by Nagaland armed police inside Dissoi Valley Reserve Forest.
The forest falls under the Mariani Forest Range of Jorhat district.
Assam Police on Wednesday also set up a camp at the spot to counter any further encroachment of land inside the Assam side of the inter-state border.
High-level talks between officials of Jorhat district and their counterpart in Mokokchung district in Nagaland were on to resolve the impasse till the filing of this report
Jorhat district forest officer Bidyut Kumar Borthakur said on Saturday they were informed of an illegal construction being made near the Ao Senden village of Mokochung in Dissoi Valley Reserve Forest by miscreants.
The construction was however dismantled by the forest personnel and Assam Police with support from the Jorhat district administration.
“We had made it clear that the construction on the disputed border land was illegal and they had agreed. But on Monday, about 200 m away, they constructed a camp on top of a hillock, ” he said.
Borthakur said they had been informed of the matter on Tuesday after the construction had reportedly taken place on Monday.
The official said the 20-25 feet long hut could house 25 police personnel and had a separate ration room.
“We informed officials of Jorhat district administration including the police but were not allowed by the Nagaland police to evict the encroachers and pull down the large bamboo hut covered by a tarpaulin as the Nagaland Police did not allow us,” he said.
Borthakur further said the structure had been erected on disputed land and was in violation of the earlier Supreme Court order which had directed both the states to maintain status quo in the disputed areas along the border.
He said the Assam Police have set up a similar camp nearby to prevent further incursions.
Borthakur said officials including Jorhat SP and DSP, ADC from Mokokchung were in conciliatory talks by the issue was yet to be resolved.
In 2013, a massive tension had erupted in the border area near Naginijan in Jorhat district.