Assam: No 'clean chit' to police in cases of firing at accused trying to flee custody, says minister Pijush Hazarika

The Assam government on April 6 said that a "clean chit" has not been given to the police in cases in which the accused were killed or injured in firing while trying to escape from custody. 

However, it maintained that no one has been killed in “encounters”, though there have been casualties and injuries in “police action”. 

Responding to a question on deaths in “police encounters”, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pijush Hazarika said in the Assembly, "No one has been killed in police encounters. The government has repeatedly made this statement in the House. Why should we time and again put our police personnel to questioning?" 

Also Read: Assam Government denies allegations of fake encounters in state

Replying on behalf of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who also holds the Home portfolio in the State, Hazarika said, "Police can fire in self-defence. They have not killed any innocent person, only hard-core criminals have been killed in police action”. 

The police, he said, had to fire at the accused when they tried to snatch weapons or escape from custody.

Altogether 138 cases of such police action have been registered in Assam from May 2021 to February 2023, in which 26 persons have been killed and 120 injured. 

During the same period, action against 16 police personnel was initiated for lapses in these cases, the minister said. "There could be lacunae in some cases. Clean chit has not been given to the police either. That is why we have taken action against them", Hazarika said.

CPI(M) legislator Manoranjan Talukdar, who moved the question on behalf of Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi, maintained that though the government has been claiming that no encounter has occurred, the manner in which the killings of accused have taken place has failed to convince people. 

"It is surprising that the accused could escape from the clutches of the police. Only 16 personnel are facing charges, it's too less," Talukdar said. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Debabrata Saikia of the Congress, pitched for further training of police personnel to ensure that no accused can escape from custody.