Assam Tea Tribes Students' Association seeks probe into 'land grab' of tea garden workers

DIBRUGARH: The Assam Tea Tribes Students' Association (ATTSA) on Tuesday demanded a high-level inquiry into the alleged reports of illegal land grabbing of poor tea garden workers by mafias.
Addressing a press conference here, general secretary of the ATTSA Dibrugarh unit Lakhindra Kurmi alleged that the land mafias have been forcefully grabbing land from the "poor and illiterate" tea garden workers by forging papers.
He said, "We have come across several instances of land grabbing by land mafias. They have been targeting the poor and illiterate tea garden workers. In one instance, we found that two land mafias Lalit Dowerah and Dharmeswar Dowerah have forcefully grabbed six bighas of land belonging to one Krishna Kurmi, a tea garden worker of Jiliguri village in Lahowal area of Dibrugarh.
They threatened Kurmi and took his signature on a piece of blank paper. Later, they prepared a forged land sale paper and forcefully occupied the property. We informed the matter to the Dibrugarh deputy commissioner (DC) on July 27. The DC asked the circle officer of Dibrugarh east revenue circle to inquire into the matter and submit a report within seven days. But till date, he has not submitted the report."
He added, "The district administration should take the matter seriously and take action against the mafias."
The students' body also sought chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's intervention to end the reign of land mafia in the state.