Assam: Two criminals injured in police firing while trying to escape

Guwahati: Two suspected criminals were injured when police fired at them after they allegedly tried to flee from custody in separate incidents in Assam’s Kamrup Metropolitan and Biswanath districts, officials said Saturday.

In both cases, the accused suffered bullet injuries in the leg and are being treated in hospital.

In the incident at Kamrup Metropolitan late on Friday, a person arrested on the allegation of snatching money from a government employee was being taken to a hideout of his associates in the Panjabari area of the city, and he attempted to escape while traveling through a dark alley, the officials said.

Police had to fire in his leg to ensure that he doesn’t manage to flee, they said. The accused was admitted to Gauhati Medical College and Hospital here, where his condition is stated to be stable.

In the other incident in Biswanath that took place in the early hours on Saturday, two drug peddlers tried to escape from custody and one of them was injured in police firing to stop the duo, the officials said.

The injured person has been admitted to Tezpur Medical College and Hospital and he is out of danger, they said.

Assam has been witnessing a rising number of suspected militants and criminals being killed or injured in alleged police encounters since May.

The incidents whipped up a political furore with the opposition alleging that the Assam Police has turned “trigger happy” and is indulging in “open killings” under the Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma-led regime, which assumed charge on May 10.

Unfazed by the criticism, Sarma had on July 15 said in the assembly that the state police has “full operational liberty” to fight against criminals within the ambit of the law.

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