Mokokchung: Yajang “C” village in the Mokokchung district once again witnessed the destruction of about six hectares of agricultural land, including plantations and jhum fields, allegedly initiated by the Assam police and residents of Rumkum Basti village (Jorhat district, Assam). On Sunday.
Same two similar incidents took place in April and May when Assam police and villagers from Rumkum Basti which falls under jorhat district of Assam destroyed the tea and areca plantations of Yajang village bordering to assam.
Yajang Village Council chairman C Imtionen Aier claimed that about 200 villagers from Rumkum Basti and about 40 police officers from Assam side came to the farm at around 10:30 am on Sunday, when all the villagers had gathered for Sunday mass prayer at church and in the meantime police patrolling was also absent.
The groups are suspected of destroying areca nut, agar, rubber and tea plantations, nurseries, huts, agricultural equipment and facilities, to spraying hazardous chemicals into Jum's rice fields, said Aier.
EAC Longchem, Yapangmenla also confirmed that the incident had taken place and that the agricultural land allegedly damaged by Assam police officers and residents of Rumkum Basti village is worth of lakhs.
Aier added that some of the betel nut and sap had recently been replaced following the most recent incident. However, there are crops that have been cut down after years of inactivity, which is a huge loss for farmers who have invested money and time over a long period of time, he added.
“They did not spare nurseries and fields, (they) plundered everything; "Thousands of seedlings and trees were cut down in various plantations," he said.
"The center of the incident was a few meters from the border, according to residents of Yajang C village," said EAC Longchem.
The head of the village council also claimed that the Assam police came to the field when the patrol police were not around and harassed the farmers working in the fields, saying that "the land belongs to them".
“Last Tuesday in Assam, a group of police officers arrived at the scene at around 4.30pm when the police patrol was not there.
“They bullied women who were working in the fields; saying not to cultivate in the fields and stopped all their activities, claiming that the land belongs to them and even snatched every farming tools and seeds; They even went so far as to search the women's bags hanging in the huts," Aier said. He added that even after such incidents, Assam was not responsible.
At the time of the report, the Nagaland Police from Longchem Headquarters had also reached the village to start a preliminary investigation.
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