Moreh border sealed after fencing posts go missing
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, August 02 2025: The Indo-Myanmar international border crossing at Moreh, Manipur was sealed on Saturday morning after unknown individuals cut down and stole several metal border fencing posts during the night hours of Friday.

The incident prompted the Assam Rifles officers stationed there to close the frontier near the Land Customs office, to prevent further breaches.

Local sources in Moreh said that Myanmar women traders who once crossed daily from Tamu to sell vegetables and household goods were turned back at the border checkpoint amid the restrictions.

An Assam Rifles team immediately launched a search operation for the misSing fencing posts.

Source said that several of the stolen posts had been recovered from an undisclosed location on Saturday afternoon, though multiple pieces remain unaccounted for.

Moreh border sealed after fencing posts go missing

India pushed for resuming a 1,643 kilometre-long fence along the India-Myanmar border recently following the reports of narcotics smuggling, illegal immigration, and militant movement amid the humanitarian crisis in Manipur.

As of early July 2025, about 401 km of fencing across several northeast states had been completed of which approximately 9.2 km is near Moreh.

For decades residents of the four Northeast states - Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh - lived under a Free Movement Regime (FMR) that permitted tribal and borderland residents from either side to move up to 16 km into the neighbouring country.

This policy was scrapped in February 2024 amid rising violence in the state and concerns over illicit migration and exacerbation of the crisis by external players, creating renewed friction in long established cross border communities.

In response, tribal organisations including Naga, Mizo and Kuki groups have carried out demonstrations and submitted formal petitions to the central government stating that the fence and the new regulations sever cultural and familial ties that have existed for generations.

Political tension escalated further in May 2025, when a gunfight near Chandel district left 10 members of Myanmar's rebel forces.

Indian security forces said the armed cadres had crossed the border and tried to disrupt fencing work, prompting retaliatory action.

Myanmar's National Unity Government (NUG), operating in exile, called on Delhi to suspend the fencing project and order an independent probe.

Border Pillars like 77 and 78 mark India's sovereign boundary with Myanmar, and the metal posts now being erected along the border line form an additional barrier.

According to security sources, tampering with or theft of fencing infrastructure is considered a serious breach, not only from a sovereign standpoint but also a security risk, as it signals possible collusion with insurgent or smuggling networks.

A Deccan Herald report earlier stated that armed cadres from Myanmar had allegedly attempted to sabotage ongoing fencing work, apparently viewing it as a threat to their mobility, and perhaps disrupting local smuggling routes that run through Moreh into Mizoram and Assam.

While the temporary closure of border affected hundreds of daily traders, particularly women from Tamu who bring in fresh produce, spices and household goods, security officials said that the closure could last a few or several days depending on how soon the missing posts are fully recovered and the overall security situation is assessed.