Silchar: Security has been beefed up in a village in southern Assam’s Cachar district following a brawl between two groups on Sunday over the alleged smuggling of stones, which critically injured two people.
According to sources, the incident took place in Sukhacherra (near Madhura), about 22km from Silchar town, under Udharbond police station in Cachar district around 7 pm on Sunday when some residents stopped a tipper after suspecting that stones were being illegally transported (smuggled) in the vehicle. The residents vandalised the tipper and also stopped two other tippers passing by the area at that time, sources said.
After the tipper was vandalised, some people infuriated by the vandalisation engaged in a verbal duel with residents who had allegedly vandalised the tipper. The situation turned violent, and two men suffered critical injuries. The injured persons (whose names were not available at the time of filing of this news report) were sent to a hospital, sources said.
Meanwhile, cops from the Udharbond police station led by the officer-in-charge Pradip Haloi along with forest officials, including Udharbond forest ranger Aurobindo Deka and deputy ranger Kamalendu Das, rushed to the spot and seized three tippers, the sources said.
A resident of the Madhura area told EastMojo on Monday that the incident had caused tension in the area, however, security personnel’s timely intervention prevented the violence from escalating. The situation is normal now, he said.
Udharbond police station’s officer-in-charge Pradip Haloi told reporters that the situation was under control and security personnel had been deployed in the area to prevent any more untoward incidents. Besides, police are investigating the matter to find out various details about the matter, he added.
It may be mentioned that complaints against the smuggling / illegal transportation of stones from a stone quarry in Madhura, Udharbond have poured in from various quarters from time to time over the past many years. Various organisations had also submitted memoranda to the authorities to stop the alleged illegal activity.
However, the issue did not get much attention from the law enforcement agencies/district administration, unlike the matters of alleged coal and betelnut smuggling, which got a lot of attention from the government and remained under the media spotlight in the past many months.
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