From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: Assam police on Monday came down heavily on rights activist and the leader of the anti mega dam agitation in Assam, Akhil Gogoi, the secretary of Krishak Mukti Sangma Samity (KMSS) and his supporters to prevent them from staging demonstration on the road near the state’s capital complex at Dispur here.
Police said KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi was out to jeopardize the traffic flow in front the state secretariat complex by staging a demonstration in protest against failure of the state government to live up to its commitment to solve the issue of granting land settlement to poor landless people living on government land in and around Guwahati city.
Though the administration had earlier given permission to KMSS and two other associate organisations of landless people to stage demonstration during 11 am to 2 pm, the city police deployed a huge contingent of riot police to prevent the demonstrators to cause much trouble in the high security area.
As Akhil and the agitators led by him tried to squat on the road to block traffic, police go into the act and forcible evicted from the location and in the process arrested Akhil and 30 others.
The KMSS leader Akhil alleged that the state government’s failure to convene a meeting to discuss the issue of land settlement for the landless as it had committed earlier, compelled the landless people to organise today’s protest in a democratic way.
He shouted that the police highhandedness on the protestors reflected the state government’s unwillingness to give land settlement to poor landless people.
“The state government had betrayed the landless people, it has not kept its promise made to them earlier,” the KMSS leader said.
Akhil also lodged an FIR with police against city police SSP A J Barua and a DSP D C Deka accusing them of assaulting him without any provocation.