[Indu Chukhu]
GUMTO, 24 Aug: Retired assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Tana Tadu (64) was arrested by the Assam Forest Department’s Kachajuli beat on Sunday morning.
Tadu was arrested under non-bailable Sections 24, 25, 40, 41, 49 & 60 (i) of the Assam Forest Regulations (AFR) Act, 1981 and the AFR (Amendment) Act, 1995.
Speaking to this daily, Gram Panchayat Chairperson of Denka-Bogoli gram panchayat segment, Amit Tana said that Tadu’s traditional kutcha house was in the heart of the village and they have been cultivating in the area for generations. The kutcha house was constructed to avoid wild elephants.
On 16 August (Saturday), the Assam Forest Department partially brought down the kutcha house of Tadu.
On Sunday morning, at around 10:30 am, officials of the Assam Forest Department, along with heavily armed police dismantled the traditional house of Tadu, using three earth movers.
Papum Pare Deputy Commissioner Vishakha Yadav confirmed that no prior intimation was received from her Assam counterpart on the eviction. Yadav said that the Papum Pare district administration is in constant touch with the officials concerned and her counterpart. She said that necessary measures would be taken.
Meanwhile, a letter was submitted to the Papum Pare DC by Gumto Circle Officer Afa Phassang. The letter read: “As per map and the geo coordinates, Lat 27.184007 and Long 93.870112, the said PO falls within the effective administrative control of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh.”
Yadav also submitted a letter to her Lakhimpur counterpart on Sunday, citing the high court order of 29 July, 2025, for a fruitful dialogue to resolve ties, and requested her counterpart to review the matter and take necessary action to facilitate the release of Tadu.
Yadav in her letter mentioned that the eviction carried out by the Assam Forest Department was unilateral. Referring to the mutual agreement of 20 March,1979, in the presence of the then Assam and Arunachal chief ministers, she stated that “in the event of Assam government finding it necessary to carry out eviction in area of Arunachal Pradesh government, so that they could either arrange for the withdrawal of the encroachers themselves or depute an officer to be present during the eviction.”
DC Yadav also mentioned in the letter that no prior intimation was served to the office of the circle officer concerned or to the range forest officer of the area.
She said, “Such instances of sudden and unilateral armed eviction drive without intimation have the potential to disturb the peace of the area, creating misunderstanding among local communities and escalate tensions.”
Yadav called for maintaining close communication, and suggested convening a joint meeting “with a coordinated and legally sustainable approach, involving forest, police and revenue officials” to prevent such untoward incidents in the future.
Gumto circle unit president of the Papum Pare District Border People’s Forum, Chukhu Taje was also present during the eviction, as he was telephonically called by the villagers in the morning.