At least 10 persons have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the “attack” on police and forest personnel on eviction duty in the Paikan reserve forest in Goalpara on Thursday morning.
The clash between security personnel and people evicted from the reserve forest had left four civilians and 21 forest and police personnel injured.
While a 19-year-old civilian died of bullet injuries on Thursday, three civilians were undergoing treatment for bullet wounds, a police official said.
“We have so far arrested 10 troublemakers involved in yesterday’s (Thursday) attack on security personnel on duty,” he said.
“Additionally, we have beefed up security measures in the evicted area and also prohibited entry to the affected area,” the official said.
The eviction drive was carried out on July 12 to free about 1,038 bighas of reserve forest land, affecting 1,080 families settled there.
Reports from the ground suggest that the digging up of a road by security personnel to block movement to and from the affected area had been opposed by a section of evicted encroachers, leading to the flare-up in which police and forest personnel were “attacked”.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the media on Thursday night that a group of Congress members allegedly incited the encroachers at Paikan on Wednesday night, leading to the “barbaric attack” on the police and forest personnel deployed there on Thursday morning “with stones, lathis, daos
and spears”.
“They prepared for the attack overnight. We have registered a case in this connection. We will file a case against those who incited them (encroachers) directly or indirectly. If need be, we will summon (Congress leaders) Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge for questioning, if required,” Sarma had said.
“Left with no option, the police had to resort to firing, leading to the death of one person and serious injury to one.... Such incidents will not stop the ongoing eviction drive. We are preparing for the next eviction drive in Uriamghat (Golaghat district). Such provocation will not deter us. We will respond to those involved through the law of the land,” Sarma
further said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul were on a daylong visit to Guwahati on Wednesday to attend a party workers’ rally at Chaygaon near Guwahati. Both had raised the issue of eviction, which Sarma claimed had “emboldened” the encroachers.
After a cabinet meeting on Friday, Sarma continued taking a swipe at the Congress and declared the government’s resolve to carry out the eviction at Uriamghat, where around 3,000 bighas of forest land have been allegedly cleared by encroachers for betel nut and leaf plantation.
While Sarma targeted the Congress, Kishor Upadhyay, chief spokesperson of the state BJP unit, hit out at Akhil Gogoi, president of Raijor Dal, and Lurinjyoti Gogoi, president of the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), for “opposing the eviction drives carried out by the BJP government”.