Two people, including a 18-year-old woman, were killed and 15 others injured on Monday when security forces resort to firing to disperse a mob opposing an eviction drive near Assam’s Kaziranga National Park, famous for its one-horned rhino population.
The incident took place at Bandardubi village, located only two kms north of the famous national park in Nagaon district on Monday morning. Although most of the villagers had already vacated the villages following promise of adequate compensation by the Government, some people decided to oppose the eviction drive.
Hundreds of people-opposing the eviction drive-gathered and resisted the eviction drive when civil administration from Nagaon district tried to carry out the eviction drive on Monday, forcing the security forces to resort to firing of tear gas shells first to disperse the mob.
“The mob also went agitated and attacked the security personnel forcing the security forces to fire rubber bullets to contain the situation,” said Assam DGP Mukesh Sahay. He admitted that two people died during the clash but said that only post mortem report will confirm whether the two persons due to bullets of other reasons.
“The local officers said that only rubber bullets have been used. We are waiting for the post mortem report of the two deceased to confirm the exact cause of their death,” Sahay said.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal convened an urgent meeting of the Cabinet to discuss the issue and announced an ex gratia of Rs5 lakh to the next keen of each of the deceased. Expressing his Government’s commitments to make the Kaziranga free of illegal encroachments, Sonowal said the Government will evict all encroachment in and around the park without any bias.
“There will be no compromise on the eviction drive as there is instruction from the Gauhati High Court to evict the people from near Kaziranga,” Assam Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said while addressing a Press conference on Monday.
He added that those inhabitants of the villages, who has land documents will be given proper compensation.
“The High Court has instructed the government to clear the illegal encroachment from first, second, third, fifth and sixth Additions of the park for the sake of security of one-horned rhinos. So the eviction drive will continue,” Patowary said.
Patowary lamented the fact that some people and a few political parties of the state have been trying to give a communal colour to the eviction drive. “However, the inhabitants are all encroachers and encroachers does not belong to any community,” he said.
The senior cabinet minister also said that a ‘section of people’ has instigated some of the inhabitants to oppose the eviction drive and added that the government is going to deal with the instigators strictly. “We are going to find out through the intelligence wing about the instigators and take stern action against them,” he said.
The government has also instituted a probe panel headed by Additional Chief Secretary Rajib Bora to look into the circumstances that led to the firing near Kaziranga today and death of two civilians there.