EPA
Indian women run for cover as a police vehicle was set ablaze by the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) protesters in Guwahati city, northeast India on June 22 2011. The demonstrators were protesting against the mass eviction of unauthorized occupants from government forest lands in and around Guwahati city. The demonstrators set ablaze several vehicles including city buses and pelted stones on number of passing vehicles. According to reports, one girl died in police firing and several others were injured.
EPA
A Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) protester is seen breaking a bus after set it on fire in Guwahati city, northeast India, on June 22. The demonstrators were protesting against the mass eviction of unauthorized occupants from government forest lands in and around Guwahati city. The demonstrators set ablaze several vehicles including city buses and pelted stones on number of passing vehicles.
The AP reports:
protest against squatter evictions turned deadly in a northeastern Indian city on Wednesday as riot police fired tear gas and live rounds into the air to disperse thousands of stone-throwing protesters.
Anti-eviction stir in city turns violent
Guwahati, Jun 23 : Three persons including a child were killed and around 50 people including several policemen injured when police opened fire to quell a protest demonstration that turned violent at Dispur Last Gate today.
The protesters set on fire and damaged a number of vehicles during the mayhem that continued for nearly three hours. They also blocked the GS Road for several hours, leading to severe traffic congestion in the area.
The protesters had gathered at Dispur at the call of Krishak Mukti Sangram Parishad (KMSS) and Brihattar Guwahati Mati Pattan Samiti demanding a halt to the ongoing eviction drive in the city's hills and wetlands besides granting of land patta (settlement rights) to the landless encroaching on those lands.
The injured included several police personnel including City SSP Deepak Choudhury besides a couple of journalists. They have been admitted to the GMCH, GNRC and Down Town hospitals. Two of the injured in GNRC where 17 injured were admitted are stated to be in a critical condition.
Of the 22 injured admitted in the GMCH, Biren Kalita (56) of Panjabari had bullet injuries and was undergoing surgery, a doctor said.
The dead have been identified as Rubul Ali (9), son of Yousuf Ali of Lalmati, Ramen Chandra Barman (32) of Lalmati, and Shiva Kumar Sarma, whose address could not be confirmed till filing of the report.
The scene turned ugly around 1-30 pm when the police tried to prevent the protesters from marching to the State Secretariat. Soon chaos ensued with the agitators pelting stones at police personnel who retaliated with a lathi-charge to disperse the mob. The crowd grew more violent and set on fire a Maruti van and vented their ire even on commuters who had nothing to do with the protest by damaging several vehicles. Later, the protesters set on fire three JNNURM city buses besides a Maruti Gypsy of the police on the GS Road near Down Town Hospital, with the police remaining a silent spectator. A number of other vehicles including a school bus bore the brunt of the mob fury.
The police remained inexplicably restrained during the pandemonium, allowing the protesters to indulge in unprecedented violence.
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