Assam Police open fire during eviction drive in Sonapur; Two reportedly dead, several injured
Guwahati: An eviction drive in the Sonapur area on the outskirts of Guwahati turned violent on Thursday, with Assam Police resorting to firing on protesters. Local activists have reported that at least two people were killed in the police firing, while several others sustained injuries, a report published in Maktoob stated.
The confrontation occurred as residents protested the demolition of their food grains and makeshift homes. During the clash, numerous protesters and police personnel, including the circle officer of Sonapur, were injured. Shahjahan, a local resident, told Maktoob that his son had been shot and that 17 to 18 dwellers were wounded in the police firing.
The evictions, which began on August 21, targeted Muslim residents accused of encroaching on government land. For three days, the process had been relatively peaceful. After their homes were demolished, the residents stayed near the remains of their homes in Ward 1 and Ward 2 of Kachutali village, despite warnings from Assam Police to vacate the area within two days.
Tensions escalated when bulldozers arrived to destroy the temporary shelters and food grains that had been stored nearby. The protest turned violent as residents resisted the destruction of their remaining possessions.
Shahjahan, whose family had moved to the area after erosion in their native Mayong Basbari village in Darrang district, said the residents had been living in the area for around a decade after being displaced by natural calamities. "We are neither illegal migrants nor encroachers," he said. "We bought small plots of land here after our village was washed away. I have my NRC, and no one here is a doubtful citizen."
The displaced residents had relocated to the village after being forced to leave an earlier settlement near a Ganesh temple. According to Shahjahan, many of the villagers had worked in Karnataka to save money and purchase the small plots where they built their homes.
Shahjahan also expressed deep concern over the whereabouts of his 18-year-old son, Tafiz Ali, who was shot near a railway line while returning home. "I don’t know where my son is," he said.
The injured were taken to Sonapur Civil Hospital and Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). Activists claim that as of the time of reporting, relatives of the wounded were not allowed to visit them due to heavy police deployment around the emergency ward at GMCH.
Efforts to contact officials from the Kamrup Metro district administration and Assam Police for a statement were unsuccessful, Maktoob added in their report.
50 people including DCP, Circle Officer, Police OC of Sonapur Thana grievously injured on attack of Miya Muslim, while they went to evict illegal encroachment in Kosutoli of Sonapur in Assam. Today was the 4th day of eviction. See the video how scary, thousands of Bangladeshi… pic.twitter.com/O80Ss7tBvL
— Oxomiya Jiyori 🇮🇳 (@SouleFacts) September 12, 2024
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Railway lines as fence could cut cost of barricading to curb man-elephant conflicts: MP Wadiyar
Bengaluru, Sept 17: MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar has suggested that to bring down the exorbitant cost barricading – estimated to cost around Rs 1.3 to Rs 1.5 crore per kilometre – railway lines could be used to construct fences on Tuesday.
Wadiyar took to X to share the letter he had sent to Union Environment Forest & Climate Change Minister Bhupendra Yadav.
Stating that “railway (lines) barricading” is proving to be an effective way to restrict the movement of elephants, he suggested that this should be taken up on a large scale.
“Upon consultation with the relevant authorities, it has come to my understanding that the cost of barricading per kilometre comes to Rs 1.3 crore to Rs 1.5 crore. Given that the border of the forests in my constituency stretches to over 400 km, with around 280 km of forest border requiring immediate barricading, the cost of such an exercise will reach Rs 350 crore to Rs 400 crore,” he wrote in his letter.
He said the environment ministry could make a direct request with the railway ministry for an allocation of railway lines, thus reducing the cost of the project to just that of labour cost.
“The benefits of this initiative are manifold, from reduction of human casualties, protection of property and livelihood, to conservation of elephants and, most importantly, promoting human-elephant coexistence, which is the need of the hour,” he added.
Working towards safer coexistence in Mysore-Kodagu! Submitted proposal to Union Environment Forest & Climate change Minister Shri Bhupendra Yadav Ji for railway barricading to reduce elephant-human conflicts. pic.twitter.com/VjOWIF1TTC
— Yaduveer Wadiyar (@yaduveerwadiyar) September 17, 2024
