Nagas make another intrusion bid
Source: The Sangai Express / TNN
Jorhat, February 08, 2012:
A day after Naga miscreants tried to encroach on forest land in Geleki Reserve Forest in Sivasagar district, an armed Naga group, comprising 50 persons, reportedly made another such attempt at Tiru hills forest reserve in Jorhat district on Tuesday.
DC (Jorhat) Ramesh Chand Jain said, "We've got information that a group of Naga miscreants was trying to encroach on land in the Tiru hills along the Assam-Nagaland border for the last few days.
Our staff were sent to control the situation in the disputed areas.
They have also been directed to evict Naga miscreants from forest lands and take all steps needed to stop encroachment," he said.
The Nagas have already occupied about 80 bighas of land in the Tiru hills forest reserve to set up a new village there.
Nagas from Chairmanbasti, located near the reserve forest, have taken the initiative to occupy land and some suspected NSCN cadres are aiding them.
A forest officer said, "Naga encroachment on land in Jorhat district is not a new phenomenon.
Naga families residing in the disputed areas always try to occupy more land every day and use different methods to do so.
This time, Nagas, mainly from Chairmanbasti, are taking the lead in the encroachment drive.
They have already cut down several trees in the forest reserve." He added, ''Some armed Naga militants, suspected to be from NSCN, are also involved in this drive.
They are trying to set up a new village there".
Another senior forest officer said unabated Naga encroachment on forest land in Jorhat has taken a serious turn over the past few years.
According to a forest department report, the encroachers have occupied as much as 18,651 hectares of land in three reserve forests - Dissoi, Dissoi Vally and Tiru hills in Jorhat district.
Nineteen Naga villages have been set up so far.
The Nagas are also trying to encroach on land in Geleki forest reserve in Sivasagar district by burning trees over the past one week.
On Monday, forest staff headed by DFO (Sivasagar) rushed to the spot and issued warning to the encroachers.