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3 robbers killed outside Assam bank in encounter
According to the Kokrajhar police, the incident took place around 2:30 am in Bhotgaon, when the group was on their way to allegedly rob a branch of the Indian Bank
Three suspected robbers were killed in an encounter in the early hours of Sunday after the Assam Police in Kokrajhar district intercepted a group of men outside a bank in a bid to foil an alleged bank heist, officials said.
According to the Kokrajhar police, the incident took place around 2:30 am in Bhotgaon, when the group was on their way to allegedly rob a branch of the Indian Bank.
“There was a failed attempt at robbing the bank branch three months ago, and since then we had activated our information network. On Sunday, we got information that a team of robbers were on their way to rob the Indian Bank branch,” said Thube Prateek Vijay Kumar, superintendent of police, Kokrajhar.
“When our personnel intercepted the robbers around 800m away from the bank, they started firing at us. Our team also fired back at them in retaliation, in which three of their members got injured. They were taken to RNB Civil Hospital in Kokrajhar, where they later succumbed,” he added.
The deceased robbers have been identified as Sirajudaulah Sheikh from Mankachar district and Aminul Haque and Manowar Hussan from Goalpara district. The police said an operation to nab other robbers, who managed to escape from the scene, is on.
According to the director-general of police (DGP) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, the police recovered two pistols, several rounds of used bullets, oxygen cylinders, gas cutters and other materials from the scene of the incident.
There have been a steady rise in police encounters in Assam since May this year after the BJP-led government started a zero-tolerance policy against drugs, cattle smuggling and other heinous crimes. With Sunday’s incident, the number of those killed in such encounters since May 10 rose to 20. At least 31 others have been injured in such incidents across the state during that period.
While opposition parties have accused the police of being ‘trigger-happy’, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who handles the home portfolio, has urged police to not to shy away from firing back at criminals while remaining within the ambit of law.
