In the wake of communal tensions following the repeated placement of cattle heads near a Hanuman temple in Dhubri town—triggered initially by the discovery of a cow’s head on June 7, after Eid-al-Adha—Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma issued shoot-at-sight orders at night and announced the arrest of 38 individuals overnight. The situation escalated with stone-pelting and further provocations, including inflammatory posters by the group ‘Nabin Bangla’ seeking to merge Dhubri with Bangladesh. Sarma emphasized a zero-tolerance policy against those desecrating temples and disturbing peace, deployed RAF and CRPF forces, and warned that anyone attempting violence would be dealt with severely. The district administration had earlier imposed and later lifted prohibitory orders as the situation fluctuated.