NORTH LAKHIMPUR, March 19 - Situation in the Kakoi Reserve Forest in Lakhimpur district is tense following overnight firing coming from across the inter-State boundary of Assam-Arunachal Pradesh. The situation has been volatile in that reserve forest under Lakhimpur Forest Range since Tuesday when Forest officials demolished some structures constructed by alleged encroachers from Arunachal Pradesh.
Following this, one platoon of security personnel was deployed in the inter-State boundary area near Kakoi by the Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh to maintain law and order on Tuesday. But in spite of that, the villagers living on the Assam side of the boundary near the reserve forest alleged that they had been fired upon from across the boundary on Tuesday night. They also alleged that an office belonging to an NGO was also set on fire by the people coming from across the inter-State boundary. A concrete sign post erected by Lakhimpur district Forest department was also damaged by the attackers, it was alleged. Today the local villagers filed an FIR at Lilabari Police Outpost in North Lakhimpur over the incident.
It may be mentioned here that the Lakhimpur district Forest department has carried out a demolition drive of the structures constructed on encroached land in Kakoi Reserve Forest on the Assam-Arunachal inter-State boundary on Tuesday. The structures were constructed by Arunachal Pradesh to be used as for the Nyokum festivities. The structures that were razed included a grain store and toilets constructed near the Nyokum Namla at Nyokum festival ground in the Kakoi area. Two watching huts allegedly erected by encroachers were also demolished in that drive. The eviction drive and demolition of structures in encroached land in Assam�s Lakhimpur district by the Forest department took place just three days after the firing incident on the personnel of Assam Forest department in Ranga Reserve Forest allegedly by intruders from Arunachal Pradesh while felling trees.
Earlier on March 11, there was another incident of boundary dispute in which the Assam Forest department officials were alleged of obstructing the construction of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) road by Arunachal Pradesh authority in Bogoli-Denka area on the inter-State boundary between Lakhimpur district and Papum Pare district.
