Tempers Flare in Dhubri: Shoot-at-Sight Ordered After Temple Desecration

The usually quiet town of Dhubri in Assam turned tense after the unsettling discovery of a cow's head near a Hindu temple. This shocking incident dropped like a bomb on June 7, right in the middle of Eid celebrations. What followed quickly spiraled out of control—local protests, fierce clashes, and a situation that forced Assam's Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to take the most drastic step of his tenure so far: authorizing shoot-at-sight orders for rioters in the area.

The emotional charge in the air has been impossible to ignore. Finding animal remains at such a sensitive spot immediately set off outrage among the Hindu community, while a heavy police presence during religious festivities added to the sense of unease. Some residents say they'd seen the warning signs before—this wasn't the first time that tensions flared in Dhubri over alleged attempts at desecration.

Swift Crackdown Follows Clashes and Political Pressure

After visiting on June 14, CM Sarma wasn’t mincing words. He called for tight action, bringing in rapid deployment teams like the RAF and CRPF. These forces aren’t ordinary beat cops—they’re trained for exactly these kinds of volatile conflicts. Their job in Dhubri: clamp down on violence, keep rival groups apart, and signal that law and order takes priority over politics or emotion.

The crackdown didn’t stop with boots on the ground. Overnight, police moved fast, detaining 38 people linked to past criminal activities or outstanding non-bailable warrants. Most of those arrested weren’t random rioters; they were already on police radar for previous troublemaking. The directive from above was clear—there’d be no tolerance for those trying to take advantage of the situation.

In a shake-up meant to restore some public confidence, the state government immediately reassigned the district’s top cop. Leena Doley took charge as the new Superintendent of Police in Dhubri, signaling that authorities were treating the unrest with a fresh approach. Community leaders—like BJP’s Debamoy Sanyal, who also chairs the Dhubri Municipal Board—openly acknowledged the repeated tensions. He pointed out that much of the public’s anger came from a feeling that police protection wasn’t enough, especially after similar incidents in the past hadn’t led to permanent peace.

• Assam CM’s shoot-at-sight order is among the harshest tools available in Indian law enforcement, reserved for only the most serious threats to public order.
• The rapid arrest sweep mainly targeted those with prior police records, not just participants in the current unrest.
• The new police leadership is tasked with balancing security and bridging the communal divide, addressing the deep mistrust now running through Dhubri’s neighborhoods.

Authorities say security forces will remain until they’re sure that tempers have cooled and daily life returns to normal. Right now, the streets are quiet—but for many families, the fallout from this latest flashpoint is likely to linger a while longer.