Assam: Sonapur tense as locals stop Congress from visiting spot

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: A person, Tausif Ali, succumbed to injuries inflicted during the recent police-encroacher clash in Sonapur. The situation at Sonapur was tense today when the people of the locality prevented a team of the Congress from visiting the spot of the conflict.

A 13-member team of the Congress, including five MLAs, went to Sonapur. However, the local people stopped the team as soon as they reached Sonapur. The two sides had an altercation and scuffle for an hour. The Congress team, at last, turned back without going to Kachutoli, the very spot of the clash.

Speaking to The Sentinel, Mira Barthakur, who was part of the team, said, "We're not averse to eviction. We just want that the government should issue notices well ahead of eviction drives in accordance with the standing order of the Supreme Court. We wanted to go to the spot to help restore an atmosphere of peace in the area."

Another member of the team said, "All the evicted persons have Aadhaar cards, ration cards, etc., which are enough to prove their Indian citizenship. Since the government evicted them from the tribal belt, it should have given them rehabilitation somewhere else."

The local people, on the other hand, said that a few brokers were active in bringing such people to the tribal belt. They demanded the administration identify the brokers and take tough action against them.

In the meantime, a few leaders from a youth organisation arrived in Sonapur from upper Assam. They said that the government should evict encroachers from the tribal belt. "If the government cannot evict the encroachers, we are ready to accomplish the task of evicting them," one of the leaders of the youth organisation said.

 Also Read: Assam: Eviction Drive Turns Deadly; Two Killed, Several Injured in Sonapur Clash (sentinelassam.com)

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