Guwahati, Dec 13, 2024, IANS

Guwahati, Dec 13 (IANS) At least 44 families were evicted in an anti-encroachment drive in Assam’s Goalpara district on Friday, officials said. The eviction drive was carried out by the district administration in the Pancharatna area, under the Balijan revenue circle of Goalpara district. A senior official said that the illegal settlers were served eviction notices much prior to the eviction drive. Security forces were deployed by the administration to carry out eviction exercise in a peaceful manner. Meanwhile, the residents claimed that they have been residing at the place for the last three decades. However, the administration said that all the 44 families illegally settled on government land. Earlier, in September, in the Sonapur area of the Kamrup district, a routine eviction drive on Thursday descended into violence. A violent clash broke out between the local police and the residents when the police attempted to remove what they believed to be unlawful colonies on a 100-bigha tract of land that housed about 150 people, resulting in the tragic deaths of two inhabitants and injury to several others. Juwahid Ali and Haider Ali were identified as the two deceased. Both the persons were pronounced dead at Sonapur District Hospital after suffering injuries that were allegedly caused by police shooting. In addition to the deaths, the violence caused a number of injuries, one of which was to Shahjahan Ali, who was shot in the leg. During the clash, at least 22 policemen including a woman constable and Revenue Circle Officer Nitul Khatoniar got injured. They were rushed to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital to receive urgent treatment. According to sources, the encroachers reportedly threw stones at the police and authorities on Thursday, the fourth day, damaging and vandalising numerous police vehicles. Onlookers said that they were also attacked with sticks and other dangerous objects. According to them, the paramilitary and police forces opened fire to bring the situation under control. According to sources, there was little to no security presence during the first three days of the eviction campaign. In a statement, the Assam Police said that 248 bigha (155 acres) of government land and 237 unauthorised buildings built in the tribal zone by unauthorised individuals have been cleared. To recall, in September 2021, two persons were killed and 15 policemen injured when a clash broke out between alleged encroachers and the police during an eviction drive in Assam's Gorukhuti village.