A Delhi –based Assam advocate has lodged a complaint to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) alleging that the Assam Police has been involved in fake encounters since Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government took charge in the state.
More than 20 encounters have taken place in the state since the new government was formed and most of the criminals on the other end were drugs smugglers.
The complaint was filed by advocate Arif Jwadder and he stated that small-time criminals were being shot and the reason cited for such encounters was that they tried to escape from the police by snatching their arms. Listing 10 cases the advocate said the Assam Police were “staging fake encounters with impunity” following the CM’s recent order that police should shoot the criminals at the legs as permitted by law.
He further said that “the injured or dead persons are/were not militants and hence, they were not trained to use pistols. It is very unlikely that they could use pistols after snatching against the policemen who were heavily armed,”
He refused to believe the criminals could snatch the arms from a trained police officer.
At a conference of police officers, the CM had said:” Somebody asked me if it has become a pattern in Assam that criminals are fired upon when they attempt to flee from police custody. I would say that should be the pattern.”
However, opposition party Congress was vocal against the police for the frequent use of firearms.
“It may have dangerous results if it becomes a habit. Today it may be a criminal. Tomorrow, it may be an innocent man. This kind of freedom to shoot is against human rights to get a fair trial and undermines the whole judicial process,” the Congress party said.