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Two criminals injured in separate encounters with Assam Police
There has been a sharp rise in police encounters in Assam after May when the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government adopted a “zero-tolerance policy” against drugs, cattle smuggling and other heinous crimes.
Two dreaded criminals were injured during two separate police raids in the last 24 hours in Assam at a time when the government’s zero tolerance policy against drugs, cattle peddlers and other notorious criminals has led to accusations of state support for “trigger-happy” culture in the police force.
Nur Hussain, 42, who is accused of leading a gang of 20-25 criminals involved in robbery, drug smuggling, land grabbing was hit by a bullet in a leg when a raiding police party retaliated to firing from his gang at Ahomgaon village in Nagaon district on Tuesday night, police said.
“Due to personal enmity, Hussain and his henchmen assaulted a few persons on Tuesday at Dhing and injured seven of them. The gang also fired at the other group, threatening to kill them. We started an investigation after coming to know about the incident,” said Anand Mishra, Nagaon superintendent of police.
“Based on input that Hussain is at Ahomgaon, a police team was sent to arrest him and his associates. But when the police team approached the village, they were fired at, forcing them to retaliate. We later learnt that Hussan received a bullet injury on his knees,” he added.
Hussan was admitted at Nagaon civil hospital and the police are trying to arrest other members of his gang.
In the second incident at Rangjuli in Goalpara district in the early hours of Wednesday, Amar Thapa, an accused in multiple cases of extortion and kidnapping in Assam and Meghalaya, was injured in police firing while trying to escape from custody.
“Thapa was released from a Meghalaya jail recently and was planning to conduct a kidnapping in our area. Based on intelligence inputs, we arrested him from a house in Rangjuli, where he was hiding. But he tried to flee towards paddy fields located behind the house,” said VV Rakesh Reddy, superintendent of police, Goalpara.
Reddy said the police team fired at Thapa in self defence after he opened fire while attempting to escape. “Thapa sustained injury on his right leg in the firing. He’s admitted at Goalpara civil hospital at present,” he added.
There has been a sharp rise in police encounters in Assam after May when the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government adopted a “zero-tolerance policy” against drugs, cattle smuggling and other heinous crimes.
Chief minister Himanta Biswa has asked the police not to hesitate from firing back at criminals, triggering criticism from opposition parties who allege that the police have been given license to become “trigger happy”.
In all, 21 suspected criminals have been killed and nearly three dozen others have been injured in police encounters since May 10 this year.
