Over 700 cops deployed at Batadrava in Assam to free govt land from encroachers

GUWAHATI: Over 700 police personnel have been deployed at Batadrava, the birthplace of neo-Vaishnavite saint and social reformer Srimanta Sankardeva, in Assam’s Nagaon district to free 1,000 bighas of government land from illegal encroachment. The eviction drive will begin on Monday and continue for the next three days. More than half of the families settled there have reportedly vacated the land.
After coming to power in Assam in 2016, BJP freed 160 bighas of land belonging to the Batadrava Than from encroachers in its first term. Monday’s eviction drive will be the third such exercise in the state after Himanta Biswa Sarma assumed CM’s office in May last year. The first one at Dholpur in Darrang district in September last year had turned violent resulting in the deaths of two civilians in police firing. During the second eviction drive, about 1,000 families belonging to the Garo, Chakma and Muslim communities illegally occupying 1,400 hectares of land in the Lumding reserve forest in Hojai district, were made to vacate the land in a phased manner from November last year to February following a HC order.
SP (Nagaon) Leena Doley on Sunday said flag marches were conducted in the area appealing to people for their cooperation to avoid any damage to life and property during the drive.
“Around two-thirds of the total number of families have voluntarily vacated the land they had been illegally occupying. The situation is being minutely monitored and is normal as of now. However, we have kept adequate police force on standby to deal with any eventuality,” she added.