DARRANG: The All Assam Minorities Students’ Union (AAMSU), Jamiat, and other organizations have called for a 12-hour Darrang Bandh on Friday to protest the violent clashes that erupted in Sipajhar on Thursday.
Supporters of the bandh attempted to obstruct traffic on the National Highway but were eventually dispersed by police.
Bandh supporters also set fire to the effigy of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, burned tires, and shouted anti-government slogans.
Clash between the police and protesters
The Guwahati Medical College& Hospital is treating 11 injured people, including three police officers, who were hurt after a violent conflict between police and protesters in Garukhuti, Sipajhar on Thursday (GMCH).
According to report, one woman protestor, Rezia Khatoon, was injured by a bullet during the clash and is being treated at the GMCH. The Deputy Superintendent of Police is one of the injured police officers receiving treatment at the GMCH (DSP). DSP Amrit Ray Choudhury is receiving treatment at the GMCH’s paying cabin.
Munir Ahmed and Apurba Ronghang are the other officers. According to GMCH officials, all of the injured who are being treated in the hospital are safe. A 13-year-old girl is among the injured.
Meanwhile, the Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) has planned a bandh Darrang district for 12 hours in protest of the killing of two protesters in Garukhuti, Sipajhar, on Thursday.
Thousands of residents staged protests in the area during a huge eviction drive by the district administration against government land encroachers. While the administration urged protesters to leave, some of them attempted to attack police officers, making the protest violent.
Third-party involvement
Two civilians were killed and eleven people, including three police officers, were injured during skirmishes at the eviction site in Dhalpur, Sipajhar, a day after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the clashes may have occurred due to the involvement of a third party.
The administration and the people in the area, according to the Assam Chief Minister, had consented to the rehabilitation of those who were truly landless. According to Chief Minister Sarma, all people who were discovered to be landless were entitled to 6 bighas (almost 2 acres) of land, and the people had even agreed to this.
The CM went on to say that the issue was under control, but that the conflicts could have been caused by a third power.
According to CM Sarma, the administration planned to evict around 60 houses on Thursday, but a crowd or mob of around 10,000 people showed up at the site.
In response to demands that the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police be suspended, the CM stated that there was no need to dismiss anyone because the eviction order was issued by the CM himself.
Tensed situation leading to Darrang Bandh
On Thursday, the situation in the Dholpur Gorukhuti area became tense as police and district administration officials attempted to evict encroachers who were protesting the government’s action.
Officials were allegedly attacked with sharp weapons and stones were thrown at them by some protestors. In self-defence, the police opened fire, killing two people. According to Darrang Superintendent of Police Sushanta Biswa Sarma, the two sides got into a fight, injuring at least ten others.
Eviction drive in Darrang
As part of the state government’s battle against “illegal encroachments,” at least 800 households occupying roughly 4,500 bighas of land in Assam’s Darrang district were evicted. Four religious institutions and a private institution were also demolished, according to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Recently, Assam Police arrested a photographer who was observed abusing a wounded protester during a shooting incident in the state’s Darrang district’s Dholpur Gorukhuti area. He was Identified as Bijay Shankar Baniya.
