Violence erupts during Assam forest eviction drive: 1 killed in firing, several injured as settlers clash with police-forest teams

GUWAHATI: At least one person died after a joint team of police and forest officials opened fire following a clash with evicted settlers in the Paikan Reserve Forest area of lower Assam's Goalpara district on Thursday morning.The clash broke out when the team arrived to carry out an eviction drive in the area.As part of the ongoing eviction drives initiated by the state govt, about 140 hectares of forest land in Paikan reserve forest was cleared of encroachment last Saturday, with bulldozers razing hundreds of houses and other structures, including several mosques built in the area by Bengal-origin migrant Muslims.