Locals clash with bow and arrows at Assam-Meghalaya border

One person was injured in a clash at a disputed area along the Assam-Meghalaya interstate border as locals from both sides used bows and arrows and catapults to attack each other, officials said on Wednesday.

The incident occurred on Tuesday in the disputed place along the boundary between the Lapangap village in Meghalaya's West Jaintia Hills district and the Tapat area under the Hamren subdivision of West Karbi Anglong district of Assam.

A person from Karbi Anglong district was injured, while no one from the Meghalaya side was seriously hurt in the incident, officials said.

The situation was brought under control after police teams from both states visited the spot and placated the locals.

The situation remained calm but tense on Wednesday morning as a fresh clash between the villagers from both sides was reported, an official from Meghalaya said.

Some huts belonging to Khasi farmers in Lapangap were also burnt down, escalating tension in the area, a senior official of West Jaintia Hills district told PTI.

Police forces from both states prevented villagers from congregating at the spot where the clashes occurred, he said.

"We are coordinating with our counterparts in Assam's West Karbi Anglong district to keep the situation under control," the official said.

Lapangap village elder (Waheh Shnong) Deimonmi Lyngdoh claimed that farmers tending to their paddy fields were attacked with catapults, bows and arrows by people from Assam who were hiding near the fields.

"Learning about the attack, around 250-300 people from our village went to the spot and retaliated with bows and arrows and catapults, with the tension lasting the entire day yesterday," he said.

The Lapangap village elder urged the district administration to provide protection to them.

Locals in the Tapat area of Karbi Anglong alleged that they were attacked by around 200 people from the neighbouring Meghalaya with catapults, sticks and daggers while they were working in their fields on Tuesday.

"A youth was hit by stones and was taken to a hospital," a police officer said.

The residents of the Tapat village claimed that two houses were set on fire in the area on August 24 by people from the neighbouring state.

Videos of clashes went viral on social media and purportedly showed that hundreds of people from both sides were fighting with each other with bows and arrows and catapults.

At least six people, including five Meghalaya residents and a forest guard from Assam, were killed in a firing incident in Mukroh along a disputed section of the Assam-Meghalaya interstate boundary on November 22 last year.

Official talks to reorganise the interstate border between the two neighbouring states are at an advanced stage, with the chief ministers of the two states set to hold a meeting early next month for another round of discussions.

Last year, Assam and Meghalaya signed a border pact to resolve the dispute in six areas of difference.

The talks for the remaining six areas of difference are at an advanced stage, sources said.

Meghalaya was carved out from Assam as a separate state in 1972, and it had challenged the Assam Reorganisation Act, 1971, leading to disputes in 12 areas of the 884.9 km-long border between the two states.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on assuming the office in May 2021, had announced that his priority was to resolve long-standing boundary disputes with the neighbouring states.

Subsequently, three regional committees were set up in August 2021 to resolve the issues in a phased manner.

The regional panels submitted their recommendations which were handed over to Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi by the two chief ministers.

According to last year's agreement between the two states, 36.79 sq km of disputed area was taken up for settlement in the first phase with Assam getting full control of 18.51 sq km and Meghalaya over 18.28 sq kms of land.