One alleged encroacher was killed and more than 20 others, including police personnel, were injured in a clash between evicted people and security personnel in Assam’s Goalpara district on Thursday, an official said.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma held Congress leader Rahul Gandhi responsible for the incident, accusing him of encouraging encroachers and emboldening them with his words while visiting the state on Wednesday to attack police and forest personnel.
Goalpara District Commissioner (DC) Prodip Timung alleged that encroachers attacked forest guards and police personnel with sticks, stones and bricks when they had gone to cordon off a part of the Paikan reserve forest, where an eviction drive was carried out on Saturday.
In a retaliatory action, the police had to fire to control the situation, in which one person was killed and two others were injured, he said.
Several policemen and forest personnel were injured in the incident of stone pelting, the DC said.
The eviction drive to clear encroachment on around 135 hectares in the Paikan Reserve Forest of the Krishnai Range of the district had affected 1,080 families, and the evicted people were mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims.
“The forest department wanted to dig a channel to ensure that no attempt is made for future encroachment. The work started yesterday and went off peacefully. But when the team reached this morning to resume the work, people in the area attacked them with stones and sticks,” Timung said.
A police officer added that additional forces have been deployed and some people picked up for questioning on suspicion of involvement in the violence.
A forest department official asserted that work to secure the reserve forest will continue and no encroachment will be allowed.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said those involved in the attack on security personnel will be booked.
“If anyone attacks the police, they will have to face legal action,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a programme.
The chief minister said the eviction has already been completed there, and the administration will start plantation now to reclaim the forest area.
In a post on X later, he claimed that Gandhi’s “irresponsible rhetoric” endangered lives and peace in the state.
“Rahul Gandhi came to Assam and openly encouraged encroachers to occupy forest land,” Sarma said, referring to the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha’s day-long visit to the state on Wednesday.
Gandhi, accompanied by party national president Mallikarjun Kharge, had held a closed-door discussion with top state party functionaries in Guwahati and addressed a workers’ meet at Chaygaon, about 40 kms from here.
He had alleged that just as in Assam, land is being taken away across the country from people and given to a few industrialists.
Sarma maintained that “emboldened by his reckless words” the mob attacked the personnel, while attempting to encroach upon the Paikan Reserve Forest.
As many as 21 police officers and forest guards suffered grievous injuries, he said.
Left with no choice, the police had to open fire to restore order, leading to the death of one encroacher, the chief minister added.
“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,” he said.
The DC said it is not clear why there was resistance now after the eviction drive had been completed peacefully just a few days back.
“We have to analyse the reason. The people who were evicted and residents from other areas are among the attackers,” Timung added.
Locals claimed that the mob torched the furniture of a government school in the area, but fire tenders rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control.
Leaders and members of students’ and youth organisations gathered near Paikan as news of the incident spread, but they were not allowed to proceed to the spot.
Security forces baton-charged the crowd to disperse them, with barricades erected about 2 km from the area where the violence had erupted.
No entry beyond the barricade, except those authorised, was allowed initially, with media persons also barred from proceeding beyond the point.
The leader of a local student organisation claimed that a section of the evicted people were staying in the area under tarpaulin sheets as they had no place to move.
“These people were looking for alternative living arrangements and requested the administration for some more time to shift. But the authorities were now trying to close the road that led to the area,” he said.
The incident was unfortunate, but one has to understand the plight of these people, he added. (PTI)
