Two killed in police firing as Assam eviction drive turns violent
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Guwahati: Two people were killed and several injured-on Thursday after police opened fire after the ongoing eviction drive at Paikan in Goalpara district turned violent.Eviction was carried out in the area on Saturday last despite that a group of people have been staying there. They clashed with a team of police and forest department officials who had gone there to carry out the eviction drive.Police said that a group of people pelted stones at the police. "At least five policemen were injured during the stone pelting. Two civilians' protestors were injured and one of them succumbed to his injuries," said Goalpara District Commissioner, Pradeep Kumar Timung.About 140 hectares of the Paikan Reserve Forest, spanning 711 hectares, had been encroached upon by settlers. These were cleared on Saturday. However, despite the eviction drives some people have not left the area saying that they had nowhere to go.These people said that they had stayed put in the area waiting for rehabilitation by the government.Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated in X, " Rahul Gandhi came to Assam and openly encouraged encroachers to occupy forest land. Emboldened by his reckless words, today a violent mob attacked our police and forest personnel while attempting to forcefully encroach upon the Paikan Reserve Forest.In the line of duty, 21 brave police officers and forest guards suffered grievous injuries. Left with no choice, the police had to open fire to restore order—leading to the unfortunate death of one encroacher. This is the disastrous legacy of Rahul Gandhi's one-day visit to Assam. His irresponsible rhetoric has directly endangered lives and disrupted peace in our state. The people of Assam will neither forget nor forgive this betrayal".Rahul addressed a rally in Assam on Wednesday. Sarma has said action will be taken if the cops are stopped from performing their duty.Sarma recently stated that the BJP led government in Assam in the last four years has so far cleared over 1.19 lakh bighas (160 square kms) of land from illegal encroachment. Nearly 50,000 people are evicted.Sarma said, 'Till now we have managed to clear 40 percent of the forest land from encroachment. Area under encroachment is over 63 lakh bighas and forest is 29 lakh bighas".Regional party, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) General Secretary Jagadish Bhuyan lashed out at the BJP-led government, claiming that the narrative of protecting Assamese identity was being misused to mask large-scale land transfers to corporate houses.'This is not about identity — this is about deception. While the Chief Minister talks of freeing 6,000 bighas from so-called illegal Bangladeshis, the same government is allocating 55,000 bighas — including 49,000 bighas of indigenous land — to corporate houses,' Bhuyan said.
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