71 houses demolished on second day in Karimganj

Silchar: Seventy-one more residential houses and shops were demolished at Ichabeel tea estate and neighbouring Icharpar locality in Patharkandi circle of Karimganj district on the second day on Sunday.
The administration carried out the drive to clear atleast 1,200 bighas of government and ceiling-surplus land in Ichabeel tea estate, owned by the state-run Assam Tea Corporation (ATC), and neighbouring areas which were encroached by the families without valid documents.
On Saturday, the administration had demolished 90 residential houses with the help of 20 excavators.
With this, a total of 161 residential houses and shops were demolished that left more than 7,000 people homeless, sources said. Many of them have taken shelter in the houses of their neighbours and relatives, but many of them have pitched tents under the open sky.
Led by Patharkandi circle officer Arpita Dutta Majumdar, other senior officials including, Karimganj DC Mridul Kumar Yadav and SP Padmanabh Baruah were present.
A senior police official said a few houses were spared after owners managed to show valid land documents.
The drive will continue in five other adjoining villages where government land has been encroached.