<p>Guwahati: One person died and several others were injured after police in Assam's Goalpara district opened fire on Thursday to disperse an angry mob, who were evicted from a reserve forest, last week. </p><p>Police and forest personnel carried out an eviction drive in Paikan Reserve Forest in western Goalpara on July 12 and evicted over 1,000 families and cleared nearly 150 acres of land. </p>.Assam: Two killed, several injured in landslide; 10 feared trapped under debris.<p>But many of the evicted persons returned and reconstructed some huts. The tension started after a team of police and forest personnel went there on Thursday morning to evict them again. </p><p>"A large number of people charged at the police team and pelted stones and attacked with bamboo poles. Police initially opened fire in the air, but that did not deter them. As the crowd turned more violent, our forces had to fire. One person died and a few others were injured. Several of our personnel were injured in the attack by the mob," a police officer in Goalpara said. </p><p><strong>Eviction under BJP govt</strong></p><p>The eviction at Paikan was the latest in the series of similar drives carried out in Dhubri and Goalpara in Lower Assam and in Lakhimpur district in North Assam. </p><p>Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently said 160 square kilometers of land have been cleared from "encroachers" during eviction drives carried out since his government assumed office in May 2021. </p><p>Sarma said forest, wetlands, village grazing land and other government land had been illegally occupied by people belonging to a "particular religion" as part of plan for "demographic invasion" over the indigenous people in Assam. </p><p>Similar firing had taken place during eviction drives in Darrang district in 2021 and at Kasutoli near Guwahati last year, in which four persons died. </p><p>Opposition Congress and other parties alleged that the eviction drive targeting the Muslims was part of BJP's "polarization tactics" in the run up to the Assembly elections slated early next year. </p>.Our 'babbar shers' will send Himanta to jail, says Rahul Gandhi.<p>Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said Sarma was "snatching" land from the poor people in order to hand them over to Adani, Ambani and Ramdev. </p><p>BJP, on the other hand, claims that the drive was carried out to protect indigenous people and their land from the "illegal Bangladeshi migrants."</p><p><strong>Assam police firing</strong></p><ul><li><p><strong>September 24, 2021:</strong> Two Muslim villagers killed in police firing in Darrang district in Darrang district. </p></li><li><p><strong>September 13, 2024</strong>: Two Muslim protesters killed in police firing during an eviction drive at Kasutoli village in the outskirts of Guwahati. Several police personel were also injured in attack by the evicted persons.</p></li><li><p><strong>July 8, 2025</strong>: Muslim residents allegedly pelted stones at bulldozers during an eviction drive in Chapar in Dhubri district. </p></li><li><p><strong>July 17, 2025:</strong> One evicted Muslim resident killed in police firing at Paikan in Goalpara district. </p></li></ul>
<p>Guwahati: One person died and several others were injured after police in Assam's Goalpara district opened fire on Thursday to disperse an angry mob, who were evicted from a reserve forest, last week. </p><p>Police and forest personnel carried out an eviction drive in Paikan Reserve Forest in western Goalpara on July 12 and evicted over 1,000 families and cleared nearly 150 acres of land. </p>.Assam: Two killed, several injured in landslide; 10 feared trapped under debris.<p>But many of the evicted persons returned and reconstructed some huts. The tension started after a team of police and forest personnel went there on Thursday morning to evict them again. </p><p>"A large number of people charged at the police team and pelted stones and attacked with bamboo poles. Police initially opened fire in the air, but that did not deter them. As the crowd turned more violent, our forces had to fire. One person died and a few others were injured. Several of our personnel were injured in the attack by the mob," a police officer in Goalpara said. </p><p><strong>Eviction under BJP govt</strong></p><p>The eviction at Paikan was the latest in the series of similar drives carried out in Dhubri and Goalpara in Lower Assam and in Lakhimpur district in North Assam. </p><p>Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently said 160 square kilometers of land have been cleared from "encroachers" during eviction drives carried out since his government assumed office in May 2021. </p><p>Sarma said forest, wetlands, village grazing land and other government land had been illegally occupied by people belonging to a "particular religion" as part of plan for "demographic invasion" over the indigenous people in Assam. </p><p>Similar firing had taken place during eviction drives in Darrang district in 2021 and at Kasutoli near Guwahati last year, in which four persons died. </p><p>Opposition Congress and other parties alleged that the eviction drive targeting the Muslims was part of BJP's "polarization tactics" in the run up to the Assembly elections slated early next year. </p>.Our 'babbar shers' will send Himanta to jail, says Rahul Gandhi.<p>Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said Sarma was "snatching" land from the poor people in order to hand them over to Adani, Ambani and Ramdev. </p><p>BJP, on the other hand, claims that the drive was carried out to protect indigenous people and their land from the "illegal Bangladeshi migrants."</p><p><strong>Assam police firing</strong></p><ul><li><p><strong>September 24, 2021:</strong> Two Muslim villagers killed in police firing in Darrang district in Darrang district. </p></li><li><p><strong>September 13, 2024</strong>: Two Muslim protesters killed in police firing during an eviction drive at Kasutoli village in the outskirts of Guwahati. Several police personel were also injured in attack by the evicted persons.</p></li><li><p><strong>July 8, 2025</strong>: Muslim residents allegedly pelted stones at bulldozers during an eviction drive in Chapar in Dhubri district. </p></li><li><p><strong>July 17, 2025:</strong> One evicted Muslim resident killed in police firing at Paikan in Goalpara district. </p></li></ul>