Assam: Fresh eviction drive carried out in Karbi Anglong district

The Assam government launched a fresh eviction drive in the state’s Karbi Anglong district on Monday. As many as 106 families will be displaced from Lahorijan Dudu Colony of Bokajan town due the eviction, according to Assamese channel News Live.

Karbi Anglong Deputy Commissioner Dibakar Nath told Scroll.in that the people living in the locality belonged to the Muslim, Nepali and Naga communities.

“The eviction was done following a request from the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council,” Nath said. “The drive was started at 8 am and was completed by 3 pm. It was done in a peaceful manner.”

Superintendent of Police Pushpraj Singh told reporters that more than 2,000 people out of the nearly 3,000 who were living in the allegedly illegal houses had left the locality by Sunday night.

The Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government has been conducting widespread eviction drives to clear plots of land of those whom it has branded “illegal encroachers”. Many of those who have been evicted or are being asked to vacate are poor Muslims who had earlier lost land in floods and erosion.

During one of these drives on September 23, two civilians, including a 12-year-old child, were killed in police firing in the Sipajhar area of Assam’s Darrang district. It was the second mass eviction drive that week. The…

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