Guwahati July 19 (Reporter) Twenty-one people were arrested for allegedly engaging in violence during an eviction drive in Assam’s Goalpara district. The drive was carried out in the Paikan Reserve Forest, a stretch of land encroached upon by settlers and frequently at the heart of land disputes. Previous eviction efforts have often met with strong resistance from local residents. The operation which was carried out on July 17, intended as a routine clearance, escalated into chaos after a group of locals reportedly clashed with security personnel deployed at the site. Police personnel were reportedly attacked with stones and sticks during an eviction drive in Assam’s Goalpara district, prompting the administration to step up its response. In a swift crackdown, security forces launched a late-night operation across the Krishnai region yesterday, arresting 11 more individuals suspected of involvement in the violence. With these arrests, the total number of people detained in connection with the incident has risen to 21. Police sources revealed that several suspects have fled to nearby areas within Goalpara in an attempt to evade arrest. Additional security personnel have been deployed in and around the eviction site to prevent further escalation. The district administration, meanwhile, remains on high alert. The eviction drive is part of the Assam government’s larger initiative to reclaim forest and government land from alleged illegal encroachers. The Paikan Reserve Forest, in particular, has witnessed repeated cycles of encroachment and eviction, with the area emerging as a major flashpoint for land and identity-based tensions in the region...////...