With 20 Shootings In 40 Days, Assam Police Face "Fake Encounters" Charge

Two instances of police shootouts happened on Sunday alone at Nagaon in central Assam.

A Delhi-based advocate's complaint has landed the Assam Police on the National Human Rights Commission's (NHRC) radar over what he said was an "encounter spree" that began after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's government took charge two months ago. Since June 1, more than 20 instances of encounters either of under-custody accused or during raids have taken place in the state in which, in at least five instances, an accused has died. Two instances of such firings happened on Sunday alone at Nagaon in central Assam when the police gunned down an alleged dacoit at Kokrajhar in western Assam and injured a suspected drug dealer in another incident. Arif Jwadder, a lawyer based in Delhi, in his complaint submitted on Saturday alleged that the Assam Police has shot down small-time criminals in "fake encounters", cooking up excuses that they attempted to flee from police custody.