Assam: Cattle smuggler shot at while trying to ‘flee’ police in Dibrugarh

Tinsukia: A cattle smuggler sustained bullet injuries on his leg after he allegedly “tried to flee” from police custody in Assam‘s Dibrugarh district on Thursday.

The accused was arrested just a day earlier along with two others leading to recovery of over 100 cows.

The development came days after chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma asserted that “shooting at criminals” should be a pattern if they attempt to escape from custody, making this the seventh such case in the past two months.

On Wednesday, Dibrugarh police recovered 95 cows and arrested three persons in two separate operations while Nagaon police recovered 30 cows kept hidden in a private residence.

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Confirming the development, Dibrugarh superintendent of police (SP) Shwetank Mishra said, “Today morning, one of the accused, Md Akhtar Raja Khan alias Tiklu Khan, was taken to a Chapori for recovery of more cattle when he tried to escape by running towards the Brahmaputra river. The police had to fire at his legs to prevent him from escaping.”

“The accused sustained injury in his legs and is out of danger,” Mishra said, adding: “Police will shortly produce him before a local court and ask for his police remand.”

“The involvement of the accused in a number of criminal activities, felling of trees to illegal coal and gambling, has come to light during interrogation. We are trying to find out whether the names of the accused have propped up in any other cases elsewhere in the past,” added Mishra.

According to sources, 70 cows were recovered from a tent erected on the banks of Brahmaputra river near the DTP dyke at Paanchali area while 25 cows were recovered from a location close to the residence of Rahman. The police have registered a case under section of 468/471/429/153(a)/379/411 of the Indian Penal Code r/w sec 8 of Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 1950, amended in 1962.

Meanwhile, in Nagaon, the hunt is on for the accused.

The accused who have been shot by Assam police recently while trying to flee include three cattle smugglers, a suspended policemen for his involved in an abduction case, a 62-year-old arrested for rape and murder of a minor, a dacoit and a drug peddler.