An enquiry commission formed by the Assam government to probe into a clash that claimed six lives at the Assam-Meghalaya border, has submitted its report, an official release said on Friday.
The one-man commission headed by Justice (Retd) Rumi Kumari Phukan submitted the report on Wednesday to the additional chief secretary of the home and political department of Assam government, it said.
The contents and recommendations of the report on the clash, which took place on November 22, 2022 at disputed Mukroh village in West Karbi Anglong district, have not been made public as yet.
“The period to complete the enquiry was extended twice as sought for till September 22, 2023. The Commission examined large number of witnesses and documents produced by Forests as well as Police Department and different organizations,” the release said.
Six people, including a forest guard and five Meghalaya villagers, were killed in violence at the disputed location in the early hours of November 22 last year after a truck allegedly laden with illegally felled timber was intercepted by Assam forest personnel. The clash took place between a joint team of Assam Police-Forest Protection Force and villagers of Mukroh in West Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya.
The disputed area on the Assam side falls in Makoilum village near Kheroni forest range. The entire conflict area falls within a disputed border location between Assam and Meghalaya, which claimed that the killing took place in their respective territories.
On November 24, 2022, the Assam government announced that it constituted the Enquiry Commission headed by Justice (Retd) Phukan to probe the circumstances leading to the incident. It was given a two-month time frame to investigate the matter and submit a report accordingly.
Assam and Meghalaya have a longstanding dispute in 12 areas along the 884.9-km-long inter-state border and the location where the incident took place is one of them.
The two states had signed a memorandum of understanding in March 2022 in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi towards ending the disputes in six areas.
Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972 and had since then challenged the Assam Reorganisation Act, 1971, which is recognised by Assam as its border. (PTI)
