Mass Eviction Drive: One Dies, Several Injured in Police Firing in Goalpara
The deceased has been identified as Shakuar Hussain, while the injured individual has been identified as Kutubuddin Sheikh.
Guwahati: In a clash between the security forces and evicted families, one person was killed and several, including some police personnel, were injured on Thursday after police opened fire to pacify a crowd of protestors at the site where a massive eviction drive was carried out recently by the state administration in western Assam’s Goalpara district.
Informing that security forces were keeping surveillance on 140 hectares of forest land recently cleared of encroachment in the Paikan Reserve Forest in the Goalpara district, sources said that some of the evicted families who have been camping in the area resorted to stone pelting on forces deployed in the area.
Pointing out that even after the eviction, many of the affected families continued to live at the site in makeshift arrangements, such as tarpaulin tents. Sources said when asked by security forces to vacate the forest land, the evicted people had a violent confrontation with police and forest guards when they tried to remove makeshift structures.
The officer-in-charge of the local police station, who was also injured in the clash, said, “The security forces were on routine patrol in the area cleared of encroachment when the locals attacked personnel on official duty. Around 10 constables were injured. There has also been property damage, which we are taking stock of. We had to use force to disperse the people, which included firing. In that, three of the locals were hit by bullets. One of them died, and two others have been shifted to the hospital.”
The local police said that the firing was carried out in self-defence after the eviction team allegedly came under attack. The deceased has been identified as Shakuar Hussain.
Over 140 hectares of the Paikan Reserve Forest, which spans 711 hectares in total, were allegedly encroached upon. Forest officials claim the illegal settlements have posed a grave threat to the region's fragile ecosystem.
The Goalpara eviction was the latest in a series of evictions conducted in the state over the past month, affecting four districts, where over 3,300 people have been evicted. This week, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that around 50,000 people have been evicted from approximately 160 square kilometres of land since his government took office in 2021.
Mr Sarma, while defending the eviction drive, reiterated that the evictions were aimed at countering what he called a “demographic invasion” by people from a particular community.
The Opposition, however, strongly criticised the state government’s stance and actions. Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi accused the government of double standards, alleging that "several in the government own the highest amount of land.” He also claimed that 18,000 acres belonging to indigenous, tribal, and minority communities had been handed over to industrialists from outside the state.
