NEW DELHI: Less than two days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with the Chief Ministers of the northeast states Assam and Mizoram, for resolving the inter-State boundary disputes, around five Assam police personnel were killed and 60 injured after violence erupted along the interstate border with Mizoram in the town of Vairengte in Cachar.

Among those who were injured includes Assam’s Cachar district Superintendent of Police (SP) Nimbalkar Vaibhav Chandrakant and the officer-in-charge of Dholai police station in the district. 

According to state officials, the SP has been admitted to the intensive care unit with a bullet injury in the hip. The SP's personal security officer, Liton Suklabaidya, however, was among those who got killed.

The clash is a repeat of several violent incidents in the long-standing inter-state boundary issues in the Northeast along the 164.6 km Assam-Mizoram border.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who also holds the Home portfolio, tweeted about the incident, "I am deeply pained to inform that six brave jawans of @assampolice have sacrificed their lives while defending constitutional boundary of our state at the Assam-Mizoram border. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families." Sarma later revised the number of policemen killed to five.

Meanwhile, Mizoram’s home minister Lalchamliana said that the chain of events began at 11.30 a.m. when some 200 Assam police personnel came to the Vairengte auto-rickshaw stand and forcibly closed the duty post of the Central Reserve Police Force and a section of Mizoram police personnel.

Sarma's initial Twitter post escalated into a war of words on Twitter between him and his Mizoram counterpart Zoramthanga as they traded charges while tagging the Prime Minister’s Office and Shah and asking for their intervention.

Pointing out that the vehicle of a Mizoram-bound couple was attacked, Zoramthanga twitted "Innocent couple on their way back to Mizoram via Cachar manhandled and ransacked by thugs and goons. How are you going to justify such violent acts?"

There were few more tweets by both the chief ministers both of them tried to assuage each other, with Sarma finally tweeting, "I have just spoken to Hon’ble Chief Minister @ZoramthangaCM ji. I have reiterated that Assam will maintain the status quo and peace between the borders of our state. I have expressed my willingness to visit Aizawl and discuss these issues if need be."