A tribal students' union in Assam agreed to suspend its blockade against Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday, after giving the state government 48 hours to arrest four suspects in Monday's firing that targeted a border village in Dhemaji district.
The Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK) took the decision after talks with cabinet minister Ranoj Pegu, whom Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma designated to handle the fresh interstate border dispute, and his colleague Atul Bora, who holds the border protection and development portfolio.
At least 18 villagers were wounded in the firing at Bodoti village under Mingmang panchayat, reigniting an old border dispute between the two states.
"Assam Police has requested its Arunachal Pradesh counterpart to hand over the accused from Himey village," Pegu wrote on X, adding that the BJP government had taken up the matter with Arunachal Pradesh "at the highest level" and was committed to justice for the affected villagers.
The FIR, filed on a complaint by the Mising students' group, names Nirak Ngomle, Taji Nika, Koter Nake and Kamli Nake as the alleged assailants.
TMPK demanded a time-bound investigation and said people carrying firearms should not be permitted to take part in any future dialogue on land disputes along the border.
The blockade was lifted within hours of a fresh confrontation between two groups at the Likabali entry point on the Dhemaji-Siang border. A police team from Arunachal Pradesh fired in the air to disperse them, according to sources.
In Delhi, MPs from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh issued a joint video appeal for calm. "We must live together harmoniously as brothers and sisters and settle any land dispute through peaceful negotiation only," Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said, flanked by MPs from Assam.
"Perhaps our borders are separate, but our hearts are one," Rijiju said.
