Tension along Assam-Mizoram border escalated after a bomb exploded at a lower primary (LP) school on the outskirts of Phainuam Buarchep village in Vairengte under Mizoram’s Kolasib district.
No one was, however, injured in the incident that took place at a distance of 300 metres from the Assam-Mizoram border.
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According to police sources, unidentified miscreants carried out the blast in the school in the wee hours on Saturday.
The Vairengte Police Station has registered a case and investigations are underway.
Earlier on October 22, miscreants bombed a Bengali medium LP school at Dholakhal village near the inter-state border.
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While the Assam government claimed that the school was blown up by miscreants from Mizoram, Mizoram police alleged that it was the handiwork of miscreants from Assam to garner support from the Centre.
It has been done to portray Mizoram in bad light amidst the ongoing border dispute between the two states, alleged police sources.
Mizoram deputy inspector general of police (Northern Range), Lalbiakthanga Khiangte said, “The incident occurred around 1.25 am on Saturday when unidentified miscreants blew up the upgraded LP school established by the Assam government.”
“Mizos are peace-loving people and have hardly indulged in such activities as per the police records,” said Khiangte.
Meanwhile, Assam’s home secretary, GD Tripathi reportedly said that miscreants from Mizoram carry out such attacks on Assam’s schools located near the inter-state border.
A farmhouse belonging to R. Lalhmingliana of Phainuam village was also torched on October 31.
A standoff took place on October 17 in Saihapui ‘V’ village, when Assam police destroyed a check gate and some makeshift huts claiming that they were denied entry into the border.
The border dispute between the two states had flared up on October 9 when Assam’s Karimganj officials demolished a farm hut and destroyed plantations on the disputed land near Thinghlun village in west Mizoram’s Mamit district.
Tension escalated when residents of Vairengte set on fire several temporary bamboo huts and stalls during a violent clash on the night of October 17. At least seven people from Mizoram and few others from Assam were injured in the clash.
Though several dialogues were held at the home secretary and district administration level, normalcy could not be restored in the area till date with protesters in Assam’s Lailapur staging blockade on national highway 306 since October 28.
On Saturday, a 12- hour strike was observed by protesters in Assam’s Barak Valley to protest the mysterious death of a person from the state in Mizoram recently.
As the standoff continues, central forces are being deployed on the disputed sites of the border in both the states.