Shillong: A member of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly from a regional party alleged that a new extremist organisation in Assam has caused unease in the border areas.
On Friday, United Democratic Party MLA Nujorki Sungoh warned the 60 members of the Meghalaya Assembly that a new group, the United People's Front of Karbi Longri (UPFKL), could cause tensions between the people of Meghalaya and Assam.
The disputed territory lies adjacent to Assam's West Karbi Anglong district, and the UPFKL is a group that openly backs the aims of the Karbi tribal people.
In July, the Assam Police arrested two of the gang's members after discovering two firearms, hand grenades, and extortion notes on them. Block-I is one of six contested areas along the 885-kilometer border, and the two were reportedly villagers living there.
A line dividing Assam and Meghalaya.
Sungoh claimed that the Khasi-Pnar tribal people of Meghalaya have reason to be concerned about the UPFKL because of the "history of intimidation" by parties from Assam.
He described how entire communities on the Meghalaya side of the border had been uprooted in the past.
In light of the new danger, he is counting on the government to pay attention and not let the people of the area down.
Meanwhile, Meghalaya's Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma has said that his administration has not received any complaints or intelligence reports on the new Karbi extremist group.
However, we are not trying to brush off the new information. We'll make sure there's adequate security arrangements for the protection of our people," he promised.—Inputs from Agencies
