AIZAWL, Aug 20 - The Mizoram Government and the Assam Rifles (AR) are at loggerheads over the alleged �forceful entry� of a few personnel of the paramilitary force into the State on Wednesday.
The Mizoram Government alleged that a team of Assam Rifles men breached the protocol issued by the State Government by refusing to undergo screening at the Vairengte checkgate on the Assam-Mizoram border.
The Mizoram Home Department said that a team of 15 Assam Rifles personnel belonging to Sector 23 stationed here, refused to comply with the entry and medical screening protocols at the border entry point and entered the State forcefully at around 3.30 pm.
�A team of 25 other personnel were also rushed from Aizawl to Vairengte to intimidate the officials and four of them allegedly surrounded the officer-in-charge of the local police station, who tried to explain the protocols to them,� Secretary of Mizoram Home Department Zaihmingthanga said in a letter to Brigadier Vinod S, the DIG of Sector 23, Assam Rifles posted here.
�It is unfortunate that the rogue behaviour by the Assam Rifles personnel took place when the State is struggling to control the high rate of COVID-19 positive cases and to prevent the community-level spread of the virus. The State Government is extremely cautious about the entry of residents and non-residents. Moreover, statistics show Assam Rifles is the second highest contributor of COVID-19 positive cases among those from military and paramilitary forces stationed in the State,� the letter added.
