Assam's Dhubri district administration launched a major eviction drive at dawn on Sunday, November 1, clearing government (khas) land at Alomganj Ninth Block in the Alamganj Part-IX area under the Gauripur Revenue Circle. Police cordoned off the site as the operation began at 6 a.m., and more than 50 bulldozers were deployed, according to reports from the ground.

Source: NEWire

Deputy Commissioner Dibakar Nath confirmed that Sunday's operation targeted roughly 650 bighas of land — about 215 acres — out of some 2,850 bighas of government land originally identified in Alamganj Part-IX. About 550 families, or roughly 4,000 people, had been living on the targeted stretch, the Deputy Commissioner said.

Source: NEWire

The Assam Tribune, reporting the same figures, said the drive covered 650 bighas of khas land and that about 80 per cent of residents had left ahead of the operation, taking their belongings with them. Officials said the eviction followed a month of hearings and legal notices served on the occupants.

Source: The Assam Tribune

Residents say they bought the plots, and did not know the land was the state's

Many families dismantled their own homes before the crews arrived. Some residents said they had bought their plots from private sellers without knowing the state owned the ground, and pleaded for alternative housing. One group of residents told reporters: "We are not Bangladeshi nationals. We were born here, and our grandparents lived and died here. We purchased the land from certain individuals. We did not know it was government land."

Source: NEWire

NewzNow's evening bulletin described emotional scenes during the drive, with some residents praying at a mosque and others in tears near a mazar as homes were demolished, and a woman reported to have fainted during the operation. Those details are from the bulletin and have not been independently confirmed by the administration.

Source: NewzNow

What happens next

Not every family has accepted the eviction. A group of affected families has challenged the drive in court, and a hearing is scheduled for November 13, after which, officials say, the authorities will decide their next move. The administration maintains the land is state property and that the law must be followed, and it has urged remaining occupants to cooperate and move out on their own.

Dhubri, in western Assam along the Brahmaputra, has seen several large eviction drives in recent years as the state government clears what it describes as encroachment on government and forest land — operations that critics say fall hardest on poor, erosion-displaced families, a charge the state government rejects.