Goalpara (Assam) [India], July 17 (HBTV): Several police personnel were injured on Thursday after being attacked by miscreants in the Paikan area of Assam's Goalpara district, days after the administration conducted a large-scale eviction drive in the region.
According to the police, the attack occurred in the Paikan Reserve Forest area during routine patrolling by a joint team of police and forest department personnel.
Akhilesh Kumar Singh, Inspector General of Police (Law and Order), Assam Police, said over the phone that several police personnel were injured, including two who sustained serious injuries.
'During routine patrolling jointly conducted by police and forest department personnel at Paikan area in Goalpara district, some miscreants attacked the security personnel by pelting stones. Several police personnel, including two, were seriously injured in the attack. In retaliatory action by the security personnel, a few miscreants were also injured. The situation is still tense and additional forces have been deployed,' Singh told ANI.
More details are awaited.
Earlier, on Tuesday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that a total of 1,19,548 bighas of land have been freed from encroachers in the ongoing eviction drive across the state.
The Chief Minister said, 'After we formed the government, so far 84,743 bighas of land in forest and national park areas have been freed from encroachers. A total of 1,19,548 bighas of land have been freed from encroachers.'
Meanwhile, CM Sarma also accused the Trinamool Congress of portraying his government's firm stance against illegal infiltration of Bangladeshi Muslims as anti-Bengali. He alleged that this was a desperate ploy to shield Muslim infiltrators from the neighbouring country. He further asserted that Assam has been waging a relentless war against illegal infiltration for several decades.
Deputy Speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly, Numal Momin, also alleged that 15 districts in the state have become Muslim-majority and accused the Congress party of having the 'motto, motive and vision' to make Assam an Islamic state.
(ANI)