Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 23 Nov: Just a day after Home Minister Bamang Felix claimed that the governments of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are working to resolve the latest boundary dispute emerging in Kimin circle, Assam’s forest officials indulged in firing in the air at Bello village in Kimin circle of Papum Pare district on Tuesday.
According to a report, when a group of villagers was cutting trees in preparation for the coming year’s Nyokum celebration, Assam’s forest officials fired in the air to try to stop the villagers.
“The incident took place in the morning hours, way inside Arunachal’s territory. A large number of officials of Assam’s forest department along with police force later reached and tried to intimidate the villagers,” said a local resident.
Later, forest officials of Arunachal and officials of the Kimin administration also rushed to the spot.
The incident assumes significance against the backdrop of the recent issuing of a notice by Assam’s forest officials to the people of Bello, Lora and Gumto villages to vacate the villages, claiming that the land belonged to Assam.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu recently spoke with his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sharma in this regard to resolve the issue. On Monday, the IGPs of both the states, along with the DCs and the SPs of Papum Pare and North Lakhimpur held a meeting in Yupia to try to defuse the tension.
