A man breaks the windshield after protestors set fire to a government bus in Guwahati, Assam on Wednesday, June 22. A protest march held against the eviction of people settled around the hills near Guwahati turned violent Wednesday after police resorted to baton charge and lobbed tear gas shells according to local news reports. (AP Photo)
Guwahati | June 22 : Two persons including a minor were killed and more than 50 others injured when the police opened fire to check people running riot on Guwahati streets to protest an eviction drive by the government. The incident occurred when at least 4,000 people led by Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi went on the rampage near the state secretariat. The protestors torched at least a dozen government-run buses and private cars.
Most of the protestors, evicted from the hills around the city recently, had converged in the Dispur area to stage a demonstration protesting the eviction drive. But their march – a bid to storm the secretariat – went horribly wrong as some of the protestors began torching vehicles. Police fired teargas shells and resorted to baton charge besides firing in the air to disperse the mob, which retaliated by pelting stones.
In the resultant melee, two persons – identified as Siba Sarma (55) and Rubul Ali (9) – were killed while 50 others including City SSP Deepak Chaudhury were injured. “There was no option left after the mob attacked the security personnel with stones,” said IG (law and order) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta.
KMSS leader Gogoi alleged that the clash was the result of police high-handedness. “The eviction of indigenous people from forest areas was undemocratic. It was against the provisions of Forest Rights Act. Today our protest against eviction was peaceful until the police resorted to violence,” he said.
Most of the protestors, evicted from the hills around the city recently, had converged in the Dispur area to stage a demonstration protesting the eviction drive. But their march – a bid to storm the secretariat – went horribly wrong as some of the protestors began torching vehicles. Police fired teargas shells and resorted to baton charge besides firing in the air to disperse the mob, which retaliated by pelting stones.
In the resultant melee, two persons – identified as Siba Sarma (55) and Rubul Ali (9) – were killed while 50 others including City SSP Deepak Chaudhury were injured. “There was no option left after the mob attacked the security personnel with stones,” said IG (law and order) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta.
KMSS leader Gogoi alleged that the clash was the result of police high-handedness. “The eviction of indigenous people from forest areas was undemocratic. It was against the provisions of Forest Rights Act. Today our protest against eviction was peaceful until the police resorted to violence,” he said.
