Assam cops building hutments in the disputed border area, claims Mizoram police

The Mizoram police has claimed that the Assam police have built two temporary huts in the contested Zophai area, amid negotiations between the two Northeastern states to resolve the disputed border conflict peacefully.

The Assam police allegedly built two temporary huts.

On October 2,  in the Zophai neighbourhood, just across from Ch Chhunga, the first chief minister of Mizoram, whose paddy field had seen a border fight in 2018.

But the Assam police themselves destroyed the huts on October 3. The region is close to Assam's Hailakandi district.

The Assam police dismantled the two huts after Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga and state Home Minister Lalchamliana spoke to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also its home minister.

Mizoram shares a 164.6-km long boundary with Assam. 

A clash had taken place in the same area in March 2018 when MZP (Mizo Zirlai Pawl) functionaries attempted to construct a wooden hut there and more than 60 people were injured.

The chief ministers of the two states met in Delhi in September of this year to discuss the border problem and they decided to continue the existing cabinet level discussions. Within this month, the next round of ministerial-level talks is expected to take place in Guwahati.