After the border fight, Assam to check every vehicle entering from Mizoram for drugs
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The Assam government has issued an order to check every vehicle entering the state from Mizoram. The notification stated that it has been observed that most of the drugs were routed through Assam via Mizoram across the border. And the trafficking of illicit drugs via Mizoram causes great concern and threat to society.
The Assam government justified the order by saying 912 drug-related cases have been registered, 1,560 persons have been arrested, and huge quantities of drugs have been confiscated in the last two months, reported NDTV.
A senior Assam Police official, GP Singh tweeted that the state government is continuing its "offensive against drug cartels operating from Mizoram and beyond". He asked the people to "cooperate in the interest of the Gennext of our country".
The order issued by the state government said that it is necessary to check all vehicles entering Assam from Mizoram to check the traffic of illicit drugs. The vehicles will be checked at the point of entry at all Assam-Mizoram borders. The vehicles will be released only when the officer in charge is satisfied that there are no drugs in them.
The Mizoram government has not yet issued an official response to the matter. However, many social media users posted that the order is intended to harass Mizoram residents who can access the rest of India by road via Assam alone.
On Thursday, the Assam government had advised its people not to go to Mizoram due to the threat to their personal safety, reported NDTV.
The notification to check for "illicit drugs" comes days after six Assamese police personnel were killed in an unprecedented gunfight between the law enforcing departments of both states. Both Assam and Mizoram had accused the local police of the other of intrusion and opening fire without provocation.
The border dispute between Assam and Mizoram has been escalating since October 2020 with frequent incidents of burning of houses and encroachment of land. The land dispute between Assam and Mizoram over "improper demarcation of the state border" is decades old.