1000 police CRPF jawans have been deployed for another eviction of Assam
HOjAI: The state government is set to launch a similar operation to evict settlers from the Lumding Protected Forest on Monday after witnessing the deaths of two civilians in police firing a few weeks after the eviction drive in Dholpur in Assam’s Darrang district, which made headlines. Hojai district, for which the administration has deployed 1,000-strong police and CRPF personnel there.
About 500 of the 1,410 hectares of forest land will be evicted on Monday and Tuesday. Acting on the Guwahati High Court order, the state government will phase out 1,410 hectares of occupied land. Hojai Deputy Commissioner Anupam Chowdhury told TOI that at present the situation in the area is normal and more than 99% of the families have left after the district administration advised them to leave their place. “A total of 670 families settled there and were engaged in farming.
We have been counseling the people for the last few days. Now, there are less than 1% of families who will leave the place by Monday, ”Chowdhury added. He said that during the counseling, the settlers understood the order of the High Court and left the place. “It’s going to be a smooth eviction,” he added. On September 23, two civilians, including a 12-year-old child, were killed in police firing in Dholpur when villagers attacked police and district administration officials during the eviction.
Meanwhile, Hojai Superintendent of Police Varun Purkayastha told TOI that about 1,000 police and CRPF personnel have been deployed in the Lumding Reserve Forest for three days since Sunday.
“The deployment of police and CRPF personnel is a normal process. This is done to avoid any possible unwanted situations. However, the forest conditions here are normal as most of the families have already left their occupied lands, ”he added.
Witnesses stayed away on the first day of the hearing
Investigators in the Dholpur incident in Assam’s Darang district, where two civilians were shot dead by police during an eviction operation in September, held a public hearing in Sipazhar on Sunday to record eyewitnesses or statements from individuals and organizations, Mukut Das reported. The district development commissioner, Subhalakshmi Deka, who is the investigating officer, said no person or organization could go to the authorities on Sunday to give an oral statement or a written statement on the incident.
1000 police CRPF jawans have been deployed for another eviction of Assam
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News East India staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
