2 killed in Assam police firing on ‘encroachers’

September 24, 2021 39 Views No Comment

Govt appoints retired HC judge to probe incident

GUWAHATI, SEP 24 (PTI/AGENCIES) : Two civilians were killed and around 20 injured when an anti-encroachment drive in Assam’s Darrang district on Thursday blew up into a brutal clash between the police and people protesting eviction. A shocking video went viral, where an apparently dead man with a bullet wound on his chest lay motionless but was still hit by a man slinging a camera.

The Assam government, following the incident, ordered an inquiry under the chairmanship of a retired judge of Gauhati High Court. The public protest had erupted over the demand for rehabilitation of nearly 800 families evicted from the land they were living on for decades.

Darrang Superintendent of Police Sushanta Biswa Sarma, a younger brother of chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, claimed the protesters, armed with sharp weapons, pelted the police personnel and others present with stones.

Police initially fired in air to disperse the protesters but failed, forcing them to fire at people, killing two and injuring at least ten others. Around 10 more, including policemen, were also injured in clashes.

Meanwhile, a purported video of the incident has gone viral on social media where a photographer is seen kicking a person, presumably dead. The video shows hundreds of policemen firing at unseen targets from behind the trees, and a man in vest and lungi running on a dusty street.

The photographer was seen being led out by a policeman, but soon returned, jumped over his body, and hit him with something he had picked up lying close by. The man’s left arm lifted momentarily, before he lay still, with a red circle of blood from a bullet wound on his chest, and a ‘’Gomosa’’, the traditional stole associated with Assamese pride, lying crumpled beside him.

Bijay Shankar Baniya, a professional photographer, hired by the district administration to document the situation, has been arrested.

Eviction drive will continue, says Sarma: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the eviction drive will not be stopped. “The police have been entrusted with the responsibility of clearing the land from encroachers and they will continue to do it till the job is done…,” he added.
Sarma had visited the place on June 7 and inspected the riverine areas allegedly encroached by “illegal settlers” near Dholpur Shiva temple and directed the district administration to clear the area for the government to start a community farming project.

Rahul Gandhi says, Assam on state-sponsored fire: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit out at the BJP government in Assam, alleging that the state government is sponsoring violence. “Assam is on state-sponsored fire. I stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the state- no children of India deserve this,” said Rahul Gandhi on Twitter.

Assam Pradesh Congress President Bhupen Kumar Borah has demanded a judicial inquiry into the “barbaric act” of police firing on protesters.

“The very act of eviction is in itself inhuman especially during the Covid situation,” he added. The Supreme Court had also given a directive against eviction during the pandemic situation yet the state government led by Sarma has been behaving in an autocratic manner to evict the residents of Dholpur who have been living in the area since the 1970s, he said.

The people in the area have been subjected to repeated harassment by the BJP government since it came to power in 2016, Bora alleged.

Congress MP and deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi also condemned the incident. “…This government lacks sensitivity towards the poor and landless and display a brutish and fascist mindset,” he said.

Assam-based AIUDF also slammed the police action against protesters. “Democracy being crushed by the protector themselves in Assam, firing upon protesting villagers and killing them. Also, the so-called journalist joining the police force and kicking the man lying unconscious. No amount of justification can justify the action of Assam police,” said Dr Hafiz Rafiqul Islam, Jania MLA and AIUDF general secretary.

CPIM leader Kavita Krishnan also criticised the state police for the brutal action.

Source: http://www.nagalandpost.com/2-killed-in-assam-police-firing-on-encroachers/240935.html