Tensions escalate as Nagaland police set up temporary camps in Negheribil

Guwahati, Aug 24: Tensions flared in Negheribil along the Assam–Nagaland border after Nagaland police reportedly set up temporary battalion camps on land where recent evictions were undertaken by the Assam government. The move has sparked tension in locals, who accused the Nagaland authorities of breaching a decades-old agreement and criticised the Assam government’s silence on the issue.

According to reports, 146 families were evicted from the disputed land earlier, while eviction of 69 more families was stayed by the Gauhati High Court. However, before the second phase of eviction could be carried out, Nagaland police moved in and established camps on the cleared land starting Friday.

“When we visited Negheribil, we saw people setting up a Nagaland battalion camp on the land where eviction drive was done. This is a clear violation of the 1985 Dimapur agreement between the two states, which specifically stated that no police battalion camps would be set up in disputed areas,” said a villager.

The villager further alleged that while Nagaland police were actively surveying and asserting control over the land, Assam police stood down instead of resisting the move.

“The Assam Chief Minister has been talking about eviction drives to protect land and indigenous people, but when Nagaland police occupy the land, our forces remain silent. This is a direct insult to his efforts. We demand that an Assam Police battalion camp also be established here to protect our people,” the resident added.

The controversy erupted just a day after a planned joint afforestation programme in the disputed Rengma Reserved Forest along the Assam–Nagaland border in Golaghat was abruptly canceled following a closed-door meeting between officials of both states.

The back-to-back incidents have deepened concerns among locals about the Assam government’s handling of the sensitive border issue.