Assam’s West Karbi Anglong limping back to normal after violence

An uneasy calm prevailed in the violence-affected areas of Assam’s West Karbi Anglong district and no fresh incident was reported despite a large number of security personnel keeping a strict vigil, officials said on Thursday (December 25, 2025).

Karbi and Bihari communities in West Karbi Anglong district are at loggerheads over alleged encroachment by Hindi-speaking people on Village Grazing Reserve (VGR) and Professional Grazing Reserve (PGR) lands in tribal belts.

“The situation is currently calm and no violence is being reported. Our forces are on the ground and patrolling all sensitive areas,” a senior official said. PTI.

He said that a large number of personnel from Assam Police, Rapid Action Force (RAF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Indian Army were on the ground and monitoring the situation closely.

The official also said that the funerals of the two deceased people were held peacefully on Wednesday night, in accordance with their own traditions.

While the body of specially disabled young Suresh Dey was taken out of the house and shop set on fire by the Karbi gang, Athik Timung from the local tribe was also killed as a result of the fire opened by the police.

Kheroni district, the worst affected in the region, has people from Bihari, Bengali and Nepali communities, apart from Karbis.

Another official from the district governor’s office said that although the situation is improving rapidly, prohibitory orders and mobile data cuts will continue for now.

“We are constantly examining the ground situation. We will inform the public when a new decision is made. Currently, we see that people are trying to leave their homes and return to their normal lives.”

Agitators from the Karbi community were on a hunger strike for 15 days, demanding the eviction of alleged illegal settlers, mostly from Bihar, from VGR and PGR lands in two districts – Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong.

After police removed three agitators from the protest site in the early hours of Monday, the administration was outraged, later claiming the move was to hospitalize them.

The badly affected Kheroni district in West Karbi Anglong district witnessed major violence on Tuesday; One person died as a result of police fire, another was burned alive in his home, and more than 70 people, including more than 60 police personnel, were injured.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said that the demand of Karbi people to evict alleged Hindi-speaking rapists from their grazing land cannot be accepted immediately due to the Gauhati High Court order.

An Army contingent was deployed and conducted flag marches in violence-affected areas of West Karbi Anglong district in central Assam. A branch of the army usually consists of 60-80 personnel.