There had been tension brewing between villagers of Meluri, Phek district Nagaland and Jessami, Ukhrul district Manipur over village boundary issue.
By Imna Longchar, TFM Nagaland Special Correspondent
Dispute, claims and counter claims over village jurisdictions between Meluri, Nagaland and Jessami, Manipur had been a cause for worry for the district administrations of the two neighbouring states for many years now.
There were reports of tension between the villagers of the two inter-state border villages in the last few days. On Tuesday, tension prevailed in the area after reports of armed village guards allegedly encroaching on Jessami controlled land.
A source from Meluri told this correspondent that the incident happened after the villagers from Meluri were clearing their jhum cultivation areas when some from Jessami side allegedly resorted to forcibly occupying some jhum areas within the area.
The source said that immediately after the incident, the village council had lodged a complaint with regard to the incident at Jessami police station under three provisions of the IPC keeping in mind the month being a sowing season.
It was also informed that the village council, Jessami, has written to the governor of Manipur to withdraw the armed village guards present at the “disputed border”.
The source informed that a meeting was also held on Tuesday with village council members of both the sides on the directives of the district administrations. Officials from both the sides including EAC, OCs, Assistant Commandant (VG), and elders from were present.
It was also informed that both the villagers in principle had agreed to settle the issue so as to control the situation bringing back normalcy.