Assam minister Pijush Hazarika: No ‘clean chit’ to police in cases of firing at accused trying to flee custody
Guwahati: The Assam government on Thursday declared that the police had not received a “clean chit” in cases where the accused were shot while attempting to flee custody and were killed or injured as a result.
However, no one had been killed in “encounters,” it insisted that while there had been casualties and injuries from “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?”
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”.
He claimed that when the accused individuals attempted to snatch firearms or flee from arrest, the police had to open fire at them.
138 instances of this type of police action were reported in Assam between May 2021 and February 2023, resulting in 26 fatalities and 120 injuries.
The minister stated that throughout the same time frame, actions were taken against 16 police officers for failings in these circumstances. “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.
On behalf of Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi, CPI(M) member Manoranjan Talukdar moved the question. He claimed that despite the government’s claims that there had been no encounters, the public was not persuaded by the way the accused’s deaths had been carried out.
“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 advocated for more training of police officers to make sure that no suspect may escape from custody.