The Gauhati High Court has taken cognisance of the eviction drive at Dhalpur in Assam’s Darrang district that claimed two lives on September 23.
The case was taken up following a petition by civil society group Axom Nagarik Samaj seeking a “court-monitored investigation into the incident as well as eviction process”.
The court clubbed the case with a PIL plea filed in connection with the eviction drive by Congress MLA Debabrata Saikia and fixed October 7 as the date of hearing.
Two persons, including a minor, were killed in police firing during the eviction drive. The victims were Bengali-speaking Muslims marked for eviction for allegedly occupying government land illegally.
While the police arrested village leaders Chand Mamud, Asmat Ali Ahmed and Sarifuddin for “instigating” the violence during the eviction drive, the Congress suspended its Baghbar MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed for raking up an incident in 1983 involving the area where the eviction was carried out.
The MLA was also arrested for a “provocative” statement on the killing of eight Assamese youths in 1983.
On Tuesday, he was presented before a local court that sent him in police custody for two days.