Eviction drive continues for second day in Assam's Sonitpur
The Hindu
The administration started the exercise on Tuesday to clear “encroached” land in the wildlife sanctuary and nearby revenue villages on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra river
The drive to evict "encroachers" from nearly 1,900 hectares of forest and revenue land in Assam’s Sonitpur district continued for the second day on February 15, with 12,000-odd people, who were allegedly staying there illegally for decades, left in the lurch, a senior official said.
Since morning, the administration started the eviction in five places of Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary and nearby government land, he said.
"Today, we are carrying out the eviction exercise at Lathimari, Ganesh Tapu, Baghe Tapu, Gulirpar and Siali. So far it has been peaceful, and no untoward incident has been reported," the official said.
With a huge posse of armed security personnel, the Sonitpur district administration had on Tuesday started the exercise to clear “encroached” land in the wildlife sanctuary and nearby revenue villages on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra river in central Assam.
While most of the occupants, predominantly Bengali-speaking Muslims, had left their houses after receiving notices in the last few weeks, some were in the process to vacate their premises when the eviction drive started, some of the affected families said.
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