Two persons died and two others were injured in a shooting that occurred in Assam’s Dhemaji district on Monday morning, Pratidin Time reported.
The incident took place in the Panbari area along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.
Ranoj Pegu, the MLA from Dhemaji, on Twitter identified the dead as Boga Chutiya – a resident of the Borbila Chutiakari village – and Monitu Gogoi. Those who were injured have been identified as Pushpa Gogoi and Akoni Gohain.
Pegu said that officials from the district administration and local police are at the spot.
Superintendent of Police Ranjan Bhuyan said that local residents had arranged a plantation drive at the border area on the occasion of World Environment Day, the Hindustan Times reported. Seven persons had gone to the spot in the morning to make arrangements for the drive, he said.
The police chief said that unknown persons fired at the group, due to which one of them died on the spot. Three persons were taken to the Dhemaji Civil Hospital, where one of them died.
The remaining three persons went missing and the police are looking for them, Bhuyan said.
The superintendent of police said that authorities in Assam have sought help from officials in Arunachal Pradesh’s Lower Siang districts to arrest the accused persons, NDTV reported.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the border between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh has not yet been demarcated properly in many areas in Dhemaji.
“Usually, the neighbouring state does not attack us,” he said. “But some people of neighbouring states get involved in such activities on account of their greed to occupy land. Police will investigate the matter and appropriate action will be taken. The superintendent of police of Dhemaji and the deputy commissioner will look into the matter.”
On April 20, Sarma and his counterpart from Arunachal Pradesh Pema Khandu signed an agreement with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in attendance to settle a long-pending border dispute between the two states. An official press release at the time had quoted the home minister saying that the dispute, which pertained to over 700 kilometres of the border area, had been “completely resolved”.
After the agreement, a detailed survey was to be carried out in the presence of the representatives of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh to determine the boundaries of both states.
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