Assam Chief Minister links crime spike against women to land encroachment, accuses political patronage.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has linked a recent spate of crimes against women, including the rape of a minor girl, to a larger design of land encroachment, claiming that indigenous Assamese people are being forced to leave their land due to a pattern of criminal activities. Sarma has accused a "political patronage" behind these crimes and stated that financial power is shifting out of the hands of the Assamese people. He emphasized the need for a united society to tackle these challenges, which he says date back to the 1980s Assam Agitation.