'Situation tense but peaceful along violence-hit Assam-Meghalaya border'

Hamren (Assam)/Shillong: The situation along the Assam-Meghalaya border, where six people were killed in a village following violent clashes, remained tense but peaceful and a large number of security personnel have been deployed in the area, a senior official said on Thursday.

Restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC have also been imposed in the clash site and surrounding areas, she said.

Meanwhile, the Meghalaya government extended suspension of mobile internet services in at least seven Khasi-Jaintia Hills districts in the eastern part of the state till Saturday, officials said.

Mobile internet services were suspended in the seven districts on Tuesday, hours after the violence erupted.

Six people, including a forest guard, were killed in violence at a disputed location in West Karbi Anglong district along the Assam-Meghalaya border in the early hours of Tuesday, after a truck allegedly laden with illegally felled timber was intercepted by forest personnel of Assam.

Assam has restricted entry of vehicles from the state to Meghalaya, following a series of attacks on passenger cars there in the aftermath of the incident.

At various entry points to Meghalaya from Assam, police personnel put up barricades and asked people not to visit the hill state in vehicles bearing number plates of Assam.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured that he would act on his request for a probe by a central agency into the "firing by Assam Police" along the states' border.

Talking to reporters here, he said during his meeting with Shah, he also demanded justice for lives lost in the firing and sought action against those responsible.

He stressed that Assam Police personnel had fired upon "innocent people" in Mukroh village of West Jaintia Hills.

Sangma said he also requested the Centre to intervene in the border dispute with Assam to improve dialogue and trust between the two states.