Guwahati: Nine police personnel were injured and at least two protesters were killed during clashes between police and local people at Dholpur Gorukhuti area in Assam’s Darrang district on Thursday.
Darrang district Superintendent of Police (SP) Sushanta Biswa Sarma said nine police personnel were also injured in the attack. “So far, I have received information that two protesters injured in police firing and they were rushed to hospital. Update will come. 9 Police personnel were also injured,” Sushanta Biswa Sarma said.
The clashes broke out at a time when a team of security personnel went to the area to evict illegal encroachers from the land belonging to a state farming project. When the security personnel reached at the area, thousands of locals gathered in the area and raised slogans against the eviction drive. The Assam cabinet had earlier taken a decision to recover the land completely from encroachers and convert it to a state farming project.
A video of anti encroachment drive of Assam is viral on social media which shows an unarmed civilian being gunned down by a group of police personnel and then a man jumping on the life-less body of the civilian.
Video shared by senior journalist and filmmaker Vinod Kapdi shows one man approaching with lathi towards the group of police personnel and then gunned down.
The video further shows a man with cameras, apparently a journalist, lyching and desecrating what appears to be a lifeless body of a protestor after he falls down when a group of police perssonel assault him with batons.
The people living in the area is said to be ‘illegal encroachers’. Reports said that atleast three people have been killed in police firing. On Monday the Assam state government initiated a drive against “illegal encroachments”.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also tweeted about the incident and said he stands in solidarity the people, “Assam is on state-sponsored fire. I stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the state- no children of India deserve this.”
At least 800 families, occupying about 4,500 bighas of land, in Assam’s Darrang district have been evicted as part part of the drive.
Following the drive, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted: “Continuing our drive against illegal encroachments, I am happy and compliment district administration of Darrang and @assampolice for having cleared about 4500 bigha, by evicting 800 households, demolishing 4 illegal religious structures and a private instn at Sipajhar, Darrang.”
He added that he had inspected such riverine areas “encroached by illegal settlers near Dholpur Shiva Mandir” in June.
“I had assured temple mgmt & local people to set up a Manikut, build a guest house & boundary wall. Today’s eviction is aimed at starting community farming by removing encroachment,” he wrote.
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