Guwahati (Assam): A day ahead of Home Minister Amit Shah visiting Assam, people clashed with police and security agencies at Baghjan area in the Eastern Assam's Tinsukia on Saturday. Several protesters and policemen were injured in the clash. A team of officials from Oil India Limited, the central government's oil exploration agency, visited the area to extract their equipment from where the major accident happened in one of the oil wells last year.
The accident caused devastation in and around the area as the oil well burnt for a period of six months. The oil well number 5 blew out on May 27, 2020 and caught fire on June 9, 2020. Three died as per the official count and resulted in large scale evacuation and environmental damage. The blow-out was finally killed on November 15, 2020, 173 days after the accident with a technique called snubbing.
When the OIL authorities tried to remove the equipment on Saturday, the local residents blocked the road and stopped OIL team demanding the company should first pay the compensation to the affected families. The situation soon turned violent after local people started pelting stones at the police and paramilitary personnel who were called to contain the situation. As the number of protesters swelled with no time, the forces resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the crowd. Since the situation could not be contained, shots were fired in the air and tear gas shells were lobbed at the protesters.
According to the police officials, six of the cops sustained injuries while two of the agitators were also injured in the incident. Section 144 has been imposed by the district administration in and around Baghjan area.
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