India News | Eviction Drive to Clear Forest Land in Assam's Lumding Forest Concludes

Hojai (Assam), Nov 9 (PTI) The two-day eviction drive to remove encroachers from Lumding reserve forest in Hojai district following a Gauhati High Court order concluded on Tuesday, a senior district official said.

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Barring a scuffle between a group of evicted persons and a man promising them help in seeking justice, the eviction drive was peaceful, the official said.

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The eviction drive came a month and a half after a controversial anti-encroachment operation by the Assam government in the Gorukhuti area of Darrang district in which two persons were killed, including a 12-year old boy. Several policemen were among the 20 injured in the incident.

Altogether 670 families have been evicted with 562 houses demolished on Monday and 108 on Tuesday in the first phase of the drive conducted at Kamarpani and Betnala areas of the forest, the official said.

The Hojai district administration had engaged elephants, excavators and tractors to clear encroachment, the official said.

Most people had left their homes with their belongings during the last few days following counselling by the district administration about the high court order to make the forest encroachment-free, Hojai Deputy Commissioner Anupam Choudhury said.

During the eviction, a person identified as Rahmat Ali Laskar, who owns an orchid park in Udali area of Lanka town in Hojai district, on Tuesday visited Jhanjhu area of Lumding where many of the evicted persons have taken shelter in temporary relief camps.

When Laskar gave an assurance that he will help them seek justice against the eviction drive, a group of evicted people attacked him claiming that he had made a similar promise earlier too and had taken money from them.

While trying to escape in his vehicle, Laskar injured a woman following which the mob pulled him down from the moving SUV, the official said.

The police rushed to the spot and rescued Laskar who had sustained injuries.

The law enforcers brought the situation under control and the man was admitted to a local hospital, the official said.

Tight security measures were in place with seven additional companies, including four of the CRPF and three Assam Police battalions, deployed for carrying out the eviction.

A government official had said the forest, a major habitat for elephants, is spread over 22,403 hectares of land out of which 500 hectares are under encroachment at present.

The illegal settlers belong to a mixed population belonging to the minority and different tribal communities.

Hojai's former BJP MLA Shiladiitya Dev had filed a PIL in the Gauhati High Court earlier this year following which the Court had on September 14 directed the state government to clear the encroachment.

The Assam government had submitted before the Court that the eviction drive would be carried out in phases.

Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) GP Singh in a recent visit to the district had said that most of the encroachers hailed from different places of Nagaon, Morigaon, Barpeta, Dhubri and Kamrup districts and over 80 per cent of them had their own land and home at different places of the state.

The evicted people had on Monday claimed that they had purchased the forest land from land brokers who are absconding.

The police have lodged an FIR against the land brokers.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)