Assam MLA fired at by miscreants along Nagaland border; escapes unhurt
The Congress MLA was making an on-the-spot assessment of illegal encroachment, allegedly by occupants from Nagaland, in the hilly forest area on Assam territory, when the firing took place.
GUWAHATI:
Congress MLA from Mariani constituency, Rupjyoti Kurmi escaped unhurt after unknown miscreants opened fire, from a distance, at a team led by the legislator at the Dissoi Valley Reserve Forest along the Assam-Nagaland border at Mariani in Jorhat district on Thursday.
The Congress MLA was making an on-the-spot assessment of illegal encroachment, allegedly by occupants from Nagaland, in the hilly forest area on Assam territory, when the firing took place.
Later, speaking to reporters, Kurmi said that he had a narrow escape as about 15 to 20 rounds of ammunition was allegedly fired from villagers with arms from Nagaland.
“Two of my personal security officers and three state police constables, however, fired back and controlled the situation even as we had to run for cover,” he said.
The MLA told media persons that he had received several complaints about “illegal encroachment by Nagaland-based miscreants”.
“So being the local MLA, I decided to make an assessment on the ground. But when we reached the area, some miscreants/villagers opened fire on our group and we had to run for cover to save ourselves,” Kurmi said.
Forest personnel and a team of journalists had also accompanied the MLA to the area. Fortunately, the team managed to flee the spot without any serious injury, reports stated.
The legislator further alleged that about two to three kilometres of Assam’s forest land inside the reserve forest were illegally occupied by settlers from Nagaland.
Meanwhile, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed grave concern saying that the incident was extremely unfortunate.
He further directed the special director general, Assam Police, G.P Singh to make an urgent visit to the spot and investigate the matter, an official statement from the chief minister’s office (CMO) said on Thursday evening.
(Edited by Shankar Kumar Turha)
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