Tension in Assam: Police Injured in Clashes During Eviction Drive

Tensions flared in Assam's Goalpara district after an attack on police during a routine patrol in the Paikan Reserve Forest area. The security personnel, part of a joint police and forest department team, were targeted by stone-pelting miscreants. The incident follows a major eviction drive aimed at reclaiming encroached lands.

Assam Police Inspector General Akhilesh Kumar Singh confirmed to ANI that several officers, including two who were seriously injured, were hurt in the clash. Retaliatory action by security forces resulted in injuries on the attackers' side as well, he said, noting the subsequent deployment of additional forces to manage the area's tense situation.

This attack coincides with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's announcement of over 119,548 bighas of land cleared of encroachers as part of the state's ongoing crackdown. Sarma accused the Trinamool Congress of misrepresenting his government's actions as anti-Bengali, framing them instead as necessary measures against illegal infiltration by Bangladeshi Muslims, a longstanding issue in Assam.

(With inputs from agencies.)