At least one person was killed and several others, including police personnel, were injured during a violent clash between evicted residents and security forces in Assam’s Goalpara district on Thursday, July 17. The incident took place in the Paikan Reserve Forest area, where authorities had returned to secure land following an earlier eviction drive carried out on July 12. Officials said the situation turned volatile when forest guards and police personnel were attacked with sticks and stones by individuals identified as former encroachers.
According to officials, the forest department had planned to dig a protective channel in the area to prevent future encroachments — a process that began without incident the previous day. However, when teams returned on Thursday morning to continue the work, a group of residents launched a sudden attack. In response, the police opened fire to control the crowd, resulting in the death of one person and injuries to two others.
Multiple security personnel and forest staff also sustained injuries during the stone-pelting. Preliminary reports suggest that those involved in the attack were individuals displaced during the July 12 eviction drive. Authorities are continuing to assess the situation, and security has been intensified in the area to prevent further escalation.
