Kohima, September 26: Nagaland has alleged that a youth of the state was killed allegedly by CRPF in the Assam-Nagaland border belt and has lodged a protest with the Centre demanding replacement of the paramilitary force by a "more neutral force".

The Nagaland government had written to the Union Home Ministry demanding an independent probe into the September 13 incident when a Naga youth was allegedly shot dead by CRPF personnel manning the inter-state border check gate, official sources said.

The youth was killed on the spot while another received bullet injuries when CRPF personnel fired upon them near the check gate in Merapani area of Golaghat-Wokha border belt.

The paramilitary forces maintained that the duo was fired upon when they refused to stop their bike near the gate.

The post-incident tension was defused after a peace committee constituted by villagers of both side of the border intervened.

As per the interim agreement reached between Assam and Nagaland, no police force of either state should operate in the Disputed Area Belt (DAB) till the final settlement, and only CRPF would look after the law and order in the area as a neutral force.

However, after the incident, Nagaland government questioned the neutrality of the CRPF and demanded replacement of the paramilitary force by a "more neutral force", the sources said.

Stating that command of the present 'neutral force' lies with Assam Police, Nagaland demanded that an inquiry into the killing should be conducted by a retired judge, the sources said.

Senior police and civil officials accompanied by Nagaland ministers had already visited Merapani and appealed to the people to maintain peace as that sector of the DAB had been a flashpoint of hostility between the two states for decades.

But, before complete normalcy returned to Merapani, tension mounted in the border belt between Jorhat district of Assam and Mokokchung district of Nagaland after Assam Police allegedly destroyed about 20 'kheti huts' (vigilance huts) and damaged standing crops on September 19.Some villagers yesterday complained to a group of visiting government officials and public leaders that Assam Police personnel led by the Jorhat Superintendent of Police swooped down on cultivable land and destroyed huts and crops.

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