Mizoram govt sends feelers to HPC(D) for peace talks

Mizoram government has sent feelers to the Hmar People's Convention (Democratic) militants for initiating peace talks with the outfit having camps in neighbouring Manipur, Inspector General of Police Zorammawia said today.
The state Police Headquarters had instructed the CID (Special Branch) to send formal communication to the HPC(D) leadership on the state government's willingness to hold parleys while the decision was informally conveyed to the outfit through feelers and the local leaders of the outfit's operating areas, he told PTI.
The time and place of the proposed negotiations would be decided after receiving reply from the HPC(D), he said, adding the talks would be initially held at the official-level.

Earlier, state home minister R Lalzirliana announced that the state government was willing to initiate talks with the Hmar outfit after the people of the north eastern part of the state who have been reeling under insurgency for years made appeals to the government to bring peace in the area.
Meanwhile, officials of the state Home Department were tight-lipped on whether the HPC(D)'s self-styled Army Chief Lalropuia Famhoite, now incarcerated at the Central Jail near Aizawl would be released to participate in the talks.
The HPC(D), formed in 1997, had been demanding a separate autonomous district council in the north eastern part of the state and had been indulging in violent activities to press for their demands from across the Manipur border.