21 trucks escorted to Mizoram by Assam Police; "We respect the chief secretary," locals

By barakbulletin On November 9, 2020 - 3:14 pm

After spending close to 15 days playing cards, lazing, cooking foods under the truck, and sometimes doing nothing, the truck drivers have finally put their foot on the accelerator yesterday.

Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, chaired a meeting yesterday between the chief secretaries of Assam and Mizoram. It was decided in the meeting that the Government of Mizoram will withdraw forces from the border areas and Assam Police will broker peace with the locals and start escorting trucks to Mizoram.

“We are escorting Mizoram-headed trucks till the border. Vehicular traffic has begun and few trucks have moved to Mizoram. Few stranded trucks in Mizoram have also returned to Assam,” informed DIG Southern Range, Assam Police Dilip Dey.’

He also added that Mizoram Police has withdrawn some Police while some forces are still deployed. As fat as vehicular traffic is concerned, the DIG reiterated the chief secretary of Assam and said that Assam Police had never installed any blockade.

“It was the locals who had blocked the road and how long the road remains open will depend on the situation on the ground and how they react to the fact that forces are still deployed on the border,” informed the DIG.

Meanwhile, the irked locals have shared their disappointment, “We respect the Union Home Secretary, our chief secretary and that is why we have removed the blockade and 21 trucks have passed so far. But, we can see that Mizoram is not withdrawing its forces, and therefore we will soon call for a blockade again,” said a resident of the Lailapur area located in Assam – Mizoram border.

Chief secretary of Assam, Jishnu Baruah, while speaking with Barak Bulletin said that the decision taken in yesterday’s meeting is a step ahead. So far, in this inter-state border tussle, whenever the Assam government took a step ahead towards bridging the gap, Mizoram took two steps back. Now it remains to be seen if they live up to their commitment and withdraw the forces.