GUWAHATI: The Assam government claimed that it has evidence about the involvement of certain individuals in Thursday’s violence in Darrang district during an eviction drive. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said some outside elements had mobilised people and created havoc. They had collected Rs 28 lakh from the poor and landless families of Darrang in the last three months promising that they would convince the government against eviction, the CM said.
“We have the names of six people with clear intelligence that Rs 28 lakh was collected,” Sarma said on Saturday. He said prior to the day of the incident, some members of the Popular Front of India had visited the site in the name of distributing food items. “The evidences are now emerging, indicating the involvement of certain people,” the CM said.
“The eviction drive was carried out for 60 families. Where did 10,000 people come from? I think we will get a lot more information once the judicial probe begins,” he said. Giving an example of how serious the problem of land encroachment, he said the amount of land under encroachment was more than the size of Goa.
He also attacked the Congress for its criticism of his government. Either the Congress has not been able to understand the Assamese language or it has bidden adieu to the community thinking that it is, in any case, going to be a minority in 10 years and the votes of the Assamese will hardly have any value, Sarma said.