Assam’s forest authorities carried out a large-scale eviction drive across the Nagaon, Hojai and Golaghat districts, removing more than 1,100 families from land inside reserve forests. According to officials, the operation was conducted over two days under heavy security, with hundreds of houses demolished after authorities said the land had been illegally occupied. Many residents reportedly moved their belongings before the demolition began, and officials stated that the drive was completed without any major law-and-order incidents.

Many of the affected residents, most of them Bengali-speaking Muslims, rejected the government’s claim that they were encroachers. They said their families had been settled in the area by the state decades ago under the taungya system, where forest workers cultivated crops while assisting the Forest Department. Some residents also claimed that more than 10 mosques, including several said to be over 50 years old, were demolished during the operation. However, this claim has not been independently verified. Earlier, the Gauhati High Court had directed residents to vacate the reserve forest, observing that protecting forests and wildlife outweighed private occupation of protected land.

The eviction drive also extended to Hojai and Golaghat, where additional houses were demolished following legal proceedings and court orders. Assam government officials maintained that the campaign is part of an ongoing effort to clear encroachments from forest and government land. Reports indicate that nearly 19,000 families have been evicted from government land across the state during the past decade. The latest operation has once again sparked debate over environmental protection, land rights and the rehabilitation of long-settled communities.