Itanagar, Nov. 15: Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are at loggerheads over an order from the Lakhimpur district administration to demolish a police checkpost in a disputed area.

Aruncahal Pradesh claims the police checkpost at Gumto falls under Doimukh circle of Papum Pare district.

Sources in Papum Pare deputy commissioner’s office today said tension was simmering in the area after deputy commissioner of Lakhimpur, Jayant Narlekar, deputed a battalion of CRPF and Assam Police to the Gumto checkpost around 5.30pm on Thursday.

The Arunachal Pradesh authorities were alerted, when the contingent, along with Lakhimpur assistant superintendent of police M. Gayen, and divisional forest officer of Lakhimpur, V. Rahman, was crossing the Birup river at Gumto.

A team from Doimukh police station immediately rushed to Gumto to take stock of the situation and so did Papum Pare deputy commissioner Bidol Tayeng.

He asked the Lakhimpur district administration to withdraw the demolition order and chalk out a solution.

Narlekar said he had ordered the demolition of the Gumto outpost as it was illegally constructed inside Assam’s boundary on November 7.

“I inspected the Gumto area and found the Arunachal Pradesh authorities illegally constructing a police checkpost inside Assam’s territory. I wrote a letter and personally asked the Papum Pare deputy commissioner, Bidol Tayeng, on November 7, to stop the construction.

“The Papum Pare district administration failed to take any action. So we decided to order the demolition of the Gumto police checkpost. They violated the Supreme Court’s verdict, which makes it mandatory to demolish any construction illegally done inside any other state’s territory. Assam maintained status quo but Arunachal Pradesh has failed to do so. We, therefore, have no option but to demolish the Gumto police checkpost,” he said.

Tayeng, in reply to Narlekar’s letter, said: “The issue of constitutional boundary or status quo that you have raised in your letter is biased and not in totality of the inter-state Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border in Papum Pare and Lakhimpur districts.”

Tayeng added that the Papum Pare administration would not succumb to any dictation or threat issued by Lakhimpur.

He said his Lakhimpur counterpart should “not indulge in any kind of misadventure at the otherwise peaceful Gumto (Arunachal Pradesh)-Moinajuli (Assam) area.”

“If you threaten or use your police force to demolish any structure within the Arunachal Pradesh territory, we will have to retaliate. None but you will be held responsible for provoking the situation,” Tayeng added.

Assam further alleged that some Arunachal Pradesh villagers had illegally encroached on a vast tract of land inside Ranga reserve forest in Lakhimpur district.