Silchar, Jan. 29: A dispute over a plot of land on a hillock in Ramanikrishna tea estate in Karimganj district between Muslim farmers and garden labourers yesterday has forced the administration to deploy CRPF and police personnel in the garden.

The garden, owned by Arunodoy Plantations Limited, is located about 25km from Karimganj town near the Indo-Bangladesh border.

A senior police official in Karimganj today identified the warring groups to be from the Hindi-speaking tea garden population and the Bengali-speaking Muslim farmers.

The official said at least 10 people from both the groups had suffered injuries and were being treated at the block level hospital in nearby Nilambajar.

The incident occurred after the tea garden workers objected when the tried to build a house and set up a boundary wall on the disputed plot, he added.

This sparked tension in the area, with scores of tea labourers swooping down on the outsiders.

Sources at Nilambazar police station said sticks, daggers and scythes had b een freely used during the clash.

In the melee, the house of a tea worker was set on fire.

Sukia Rickiason, 43, owner of the gutted quarters, said, “I lost everything and have been rendered homeless.”

The Karimganj district administration has decided to grant Rickiason interim relief of Rs 5,000.

Noor Mohammad Choudhury, who claims to be the owner of the land on the strength of a Karimganj-based lower court order, today demanded proper demarcation by the district land settlement office to prevent future flare-ups.

Nilambazar’s circle officer Dhrubajyoti Deb and garden manager Anubhuti Borthakur decided that the disputed land would be properly demarcated at a meeting to be attended by block officials, garden management and the claimant of the plot.