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GUWAHATI, JULY 15: Tensions are rising along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border after the brutal killing of two Assamese Mising youths in two separate incidents within Arunachal Pradesh. These one after another killings have ignited mass anger within the Mising people, resulting in a series of agitations and an indefinite blockage of border roads by some Mising groups like the Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK), Mising Mimag Kebang (MMK), and Takam Mising Mime Kebang (TMMK).
In Assam’s Gohpur area, on the Rajgarh border, TMPK and MMK demonstrators, accompanied by local students and community groups, enforced a blockade at Holongi, demanding prompt justice. They condemned the frequent violence against Assamese youths in Arunachal Pradesh and demanded instant punishment of the perpetrators. Similar scenes unfolded in Jonai’s Ruksin and Nari regions, where the TMPK, MMK, and TMMK initiated an indefinite blockade of all key routes linking Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Major crossings, including the Shantipur Gate near Sadiya, were blocked, with protestors vowing not to relent until justice is served and the safety of border residents is guaranteed.
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The protests were preceded by the July 13 murder of 29-year-old Biswanath district resident Shankar Pegu, who was gunned down in Arunachal Pradesh’s Roing, allegedly by a local youth named Tadar Bhai. Though Pegu was being taken to Itanagar for treatment, he succumbed. The Arunachal Pradesh Police have since arrested the accused and recovered the weapon used in the murder. This is barely a month since another ghastly murder—on June 18, 22-year-old Prabhas Doley of Dekapam-Missamora village in Assam’s Jonai subdivision was apparently murdered by Arunachalee man Tai Jon in Chongkham, in Arunachal’s Namsai district.
Back-to-back killings have also generated bitter resentment in the Mising heartland. Protestors and community leaders condemned what they call “repeated and systematic attacks” on Assamese youths in Arunachal Pradesh. They accused the inter-state law and order mechanism of failing to protect citizens and warned that unless taken seriously, the situation threatened to escalate into serious communal tension along the border.
After the growing situation, security forces were stationed in volatile areas like Bandardewa, Sadiya, and Gohpur to prevent new trouble. The state government and Assam Police are actively in touch with Arunachal Pradesh authorities to monitor the situation and provide law and order.
TMPK leaders once more called for a high-level investigation into the two killings and rapid court trials of the accused. They also called for better inter-state coordination so that such similar incidents would never occur in the future.
