Mizoram today rejected Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's allegation that the state had encroached into parts of Assam's Barak Valley. It asserted yesterday that native Mizos had been living in the said territory for over a hundred years and cited "satellite images" to prove its claim.
"Assam is laying claims to Mizoram's territories, which the residents of border villages have been occupying for over 100 years. Satellite images will prove that," Mizoram Chief Secretary Lalnunmawia Chuaungo said on Friday.
"There is no encroachment by Mizoram into Assam's territory. It is the other way round," Mr Chuaungo told a news agency.
He alleged that Assam officials had encroached Mizoram's territories under the supervision of their police and forest departments in the past few weeks despite the decision to maintain status quo in disputed areas.
On Monday, Assam Chief Minister Sarma alleged that 1,777.58 hectares in the Barak Valley region had been taken over by Mizoram.
The long-running border dispute between the two states has flared up in recent weeks, with at least three bombs set off by alleged by Mizo criminals in southern Assam's Cachar bordering Mizoram. The Assam government said that the accused had threatened even its officials with "abusive language and weapons like axes and sickles".
Three districts of southern Assam's Barak Valley -- Karimganj, Hailakandi, and Cachar -- share a 123-kilometre-long border with three of Mizoram's -- Mamit, Kolasib, and Aizawl. National Highway 306 runs from Cachar to Kolasib through a border gate dividing the two states locked in border disputes since 1971.
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