Massive eviction is underway in Assam, over 800 police personnel deployed

The eviction will take place in around 1,200 bighas of land at various villages under the Dhing revenue circle.

Guwahati, Dec 19: The Assam government on Monday carried out a massive eviction drive at Bhumuraguri Grazing reserve, Jamai Basti, Rampur, Kadamoni area where encroachers have encroached upon more than 980 bigha of land.

Over 800 police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in the greater Batadrava area and mobilisation of forces have been taking place for the last 3-4 days.

The eviction will take place in around 1,200 bighas of land at various villages under the Dhing revenue circle.

The eviction drive that began in the Santijan Bazaar area has been peaceful, said Leena Doley, Superintendent of Police, Nagaon. The eviction drive is being carried out in four villages to clear encroached government land, the SP said.

"After Santijan Bazaar we will clear land in Hidubi area and depending on the time taken there, we will take a decision on carrying out the drive in the remaining two villages", Doley was quoted by PTI.

The administration has publicly announced about the eviction drive and asked the occupants to leave the area after taking their belongings.

Officials claimed that notices were sent to around 1,000 alleged encroacher families during October, asking them to clear the land.

The civil administration and police have been taking all necessary measures to materialise the eviction drive peacefully without any untoward incident, another official said.

On September 12, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the Assam Assembly that a total of 4,449 families have been evicted across the state for alleged encroachment since the BJP-led government took charge for the second time in May last year.

Sarma had said that the government did not carry out any investigation on the citizenship of evicted families to find out if they were Indian nationals or foreigners.

He had further stated that the government was also "not aware" if the families, who encroached upon the government land, were homeless people due to erosion, a claim that most of such victims usually make.

The chief minister had said that rights like 'Shelter over Head' were available only for legal occupation and right to property is not a fundamental right.