50 Dalit Families Assaulted and Evicted From Jharkhand Village, 3 Held

Jitendra Mushar, a leader of the community, said that their belongings were loaded onto vehicles that dropped them to a nearby forest.

(Photo: The Quint/Aroop Mishra)

Three people were arrested in Jharkhand's Palamu district on Wednesday, 31 August, for allegedly assaulting and evicting 50 Dalit families from a village, police said.

The village head, retired health worker Rasool Ansari, and one Mumtaz Ansari were arrested, and an FIR has been registered against 50 named and 500 unknown people in the case.

50 families of the Musahar community, living in Tongri Pahadi in the Pandu police station area, were allegedly assaulted and driven out of their village on Monday.

According to the police, women of a particular community gathered and began protesting. They even had altercations with the officers.

Jitendra Mushar, a leader of the community, said that their belongings were loaded onto vehicles that dropped them to a nearby forest. He alleged that a mob led by the village head, Israr Ansari, drove them out of their homes of over four decades.

Prohibitory Orders Imposed, 'Not a Communal Issue' Says Police

Meanwhile, the sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Bishrampur, Surjit Kumar, told PTI that a prohibitory order has been imposed in the area in view of the prevailing tension.

Palamu's Deputy Commissioner, A Dode, said that the incident was the outcome of a land dispute and was in no way communal.

Members of the Muslim community provided documents showing that the land belonged to them, while those evicted do not have any land-related documents, he said.

"Action will be taken against those who took law into their own hands. Three people have been arrested and efforts are on to nab the others," Dode said.

At present, the evicted families have been accommodated in the old police station building. A plan is being chalked out to rehabilitate them somewhere under government schemes, the deputy commissioner said.

The district administration team initially went to a school with the families of the victims. However, the location was determined to be unsafe and the families were shifted to the old building of the local police station.

Food, clothes, and other essentials are being provided to the evicted families, and there is a proposal to provide them pension, he added. A huge contingent of the police, led by senior officers, has been deployed in the village.

(With inputs from PTI.)