10L acres of land encroached by illegal B’deshis: Himanta

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed on Monday that around 10 lakh acres of land were under encroachment of “illegal Bangladeshis and doubtful citizens”.
Sarma also asserted that his government came under “international pressure” to put a stop to eviction drives after the operation at Gorukhuti in Darrang district soon after assuming power in 2021, but people were not dissuaded.
The CM was speaking at a programme to mark the completion of four years of setting up of the Gorukhuti Mulitpurpose Agriculture Project here.
The project was set up after a massive eviction drive was carried out in 2021 to clear 77,420 bighas (25,500 acres) of land from alleged encroachers, belonging mostly to Bengali-speaking Muslims, in which two persons, including a 12-year-old boy, were killed in police firing.
“The successful eviction drive here emboldened us and we conducted such anti-encroachments drives in different parts of the state, clearing 1.29 lakh bighas (nearly 43,000 acres) in four years. The land has been reclaimed for forestation,” Sarma said.
“We have taken the pledge to clear every inch of land from encroachers, suspected Bangladeshis… 29 lakh bighas (10 lakh acres) are still encroached by illegal Bangladeshis and doubtful citizens,” the chief minister said.