New Delhi: Terming the firing incident by Assam police personnel as unjustified, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Friday lodged a formal complaint to Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi even as he said that the border clash and not the timber dispute, as claimed by Assam, was the real reason behind the killings.
As many as five villagers of West Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya and one Assam forest official were killed in clashes and "unprovoked firing"on Tuesday along the Assam Meghalaya border.
The firing occurred around 3 am on Tuesday in an area bordering West Karbi Anglong district of Assam and Mukroh village in Meghalaya’s West Jaintia Hills.
Sangma and a delegation of his cabinet called on Shah Thursday evening and demanded an immediate CBI inquiry over the incident. The Assam government has also recommended a CBI inquiry into the incident.
"We want the investigation to take place, and those who have committed this inhuman act, they should be punished," Sangma told ETV Bharat. Asked whether the incident would have any impact on future talks, Sangma said the situation took place 'under circumstances of the border issue.'
Also read: 'No border dispute, just a clash over timber': Sarma downplays Assam-Meghalaya firing
"The situation is very much connected to this. Though it may not have been because of the border issue, it is an overarching factor that is creating all the tension. So, it will make it (border row) more complicated now," he added.
"You (Assam police) can't take the lives of civilians for timber smuggling. This is totally inhuman," said Sangma. He reiterated that the decades-long border dispute between both states is the "root cause of the present clash".
Meanwhile, later in the day, after his meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah, the CM noted that a CBI inquiry would be carried out into the matter - a development informed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
"Meghalaya CM @SangmaConrad met Union Home & Co-op Minister @AmitShah today and requested CBI enquiry into the unfortunate incident on Assam- Meghalaya border. Govt of Assam has also requested CBI enquiry into the matter. HM @AmitShah has assured that GOI will conduct CBI enquiry," the MHA spokesperson tweeted.
