No encounters in Assam over 2 years: state govt

Assam minister Pijush Hazarika told the state assembly on Friday last that there have been no police “encounters” this year but suspected criminals were killed or injured in firing when they tried to escape from custody

Thirty people were killed and 12 others injured in police action in Assam over the last two years, the state’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government has said, maintaining none of them were “encounters”, a term often used for extrajudicial killings.

In June, the government submitted an affidavit in the Gauhati high court saying 51 people died and 139 others sustained injuries in police action between May 2021 and May 21 this year. (Getty Images)

Assam minister Pijush Hazarika told the state assembly on Friday last that there have been no police “encounters” this year but suspected criminals were killed or injured in firing when they tried to escape from custody. He added no “encounter” deaths have taken place in the state since 2019.

Hazarika was responding on behalf of chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to All India United Democratic Front lawmaker Aminul Islam’s question on such killings. The response led to a ruckus with opposition members accusing the government of misleading the House and prompted speaker Biswajit Daimary to adjourn the House for an hour.

In his written reply, Sarma said 26 incidents of terrorists and criminals “clashing with police’ were reported over the last two years, which left 30 people dead and 12 injured.

The affidavit was filed in response to lawyer Arif Jwadder’s plea seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the alleged extrajudicial killings. The government has called these killings “accidental” while the accused were allegedly escaping from police custody. It maintained there were no extrajudicial killings.

According to the National Crime Record Bureau data, two civilians died in Assam in 2021, one in 2020, and five in 2019 in police operations. The data for 2021 showed that 65 persons escaped police custody last year. One person died while escaping and another in a road accident.