Assam Rifles to tighten security along India-Myanmar border to stop influx in Mizoram

Assam Rifles will enhance vigilance along the 510-km stretch of the India-Myanmar border in Mizoram in a bid to prevent the influx of illegal immigrants from the neighbouring country, officials said. They also expressed concern over ”rising number of crime incidents, including murder cases”, after Myanmarese people started taking shelter in the northeastern state following a military coup in the neighbouring country.

”We will cease most of the crossings along the Indo-Myanmar border to prevent illegal influx which is hampering the law and order situation in Mizoram,” an Assam Rifles official said here on Tuesday. Three Mizoram residents were killed recently in Myanmar side contiguous to south Mizoram’s Siaha district and one in Serchhip by Myanmar nationals, he said. He also alleged that several groups in Myanmar’s Chin state have been ”indulging in drug trafficking” to India. ”Many refugees or illegal immigrants from both Bangladesh and Myanmar have acquired fake Indian identity cards,” he said.

Mizoram shares a 318-km-long border with Bangladesh and the Border Security Force (BSF) guards the international boundary with the neighbour. Assam Rifles, the central paramilitary force, would shift its battalion headquarters from the heart of Aizawl to Zokhawsang in a phased manner after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry Home Affairs and the state government, another official said. Zokhawsang is 15 km away from the state capital. As of now, there is no time frame for the relocation, and the MoU is being prepared, he said.