Written by Sukrita BaruahUpdated: October 9, 2025 09:50 PM IST 3 min readA 44-year-old man from Assam was killed in a violent clash between villagers of Assam and Meghalaya over farming rights in a disputed border zone.A 44-year-old was killed Thursday in a clash between residents of two villages in Assam’s West Karbi Anglong district and Meghalaya’s West Jaintia Hills district along the disputed border between both states.Police said Oriwel Timung, a resident Tapat village in West Karbi Anglong district, succumbed to injuries sustained during “multiple scuffles” between villagers of Tapat and West Jaintia Hills’ Lapangap when villagers from Lapangap were harvesting paddy in the disputed area — something police in both districts stated is a practice dating back “generations.”The area where the incident took place is one of six disputed stretches of area along the 884-km-long Assam-Meghalaya border, over which the governments of the two states continue to be in talks. In March 2022, the two governments had signed an MoU to settle the disputes in a 36.7-sq-km area comprising six disputed areas, while another six continue to be disputed and tension-prone. The area in which Thursday’s incident took place is on the same stretch as Mukroh, a disputed village where six people were killed in firing by Assam Police and forest officials in November 2022.“This is a disputed boundary area. The Lapangap villagers have been doing their paddy plantation there since time immemorial. Today, the people went to harvest their paddy under the security of both the Assam and Meghalaya police. While this was going on, a mob from Karbi Anglong stopped and attacked them. This resulted in multiple scuffles between the villagers and in that, one person succumbed to his injuries. There was no use of lethal force by police of either side,” West Khasi Hills SP Jagpal Singh Dhanoa said.West Karbi Anglong SP Indranil Baruah also stated that the clashes took place when the Karbi villagers tried to stop the Lapangap residents, and that it was a continuation of tensions that had gripped the same area in June this year.“The main reason that they opposed them was that in June there was a plantation done in the area by the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council and the people from Meghalaya had uprooted the saplings. When the villagers from Meghalaya on Thursday came to the area to harvest the paddy, the villagers from Assam demanded that they replant those before harvesting. The villagers were separated by police without using any lethal force,” he said.Announcing an ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased, Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council chief Tuliram Ronghang alleged that Timung was killed “when a mob from Meghalaya side tried to enforce dominance on border land”.Story continues below this ad“I strongly condemn this senseless killing and express my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. Violence has no place in resolving disputes – every life lost is a wound to our community. I appeal to both the disputing parties to remain calm and maintain a peaceful atmosphere so that the issue may be resolved amicably,” he stated in a social media post.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd