Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has appealed to all criminals to “avoid encounter”, asking them to raise their hands or wave a white flag at the sight of the police.
He was replying to the ‘motion of thanks’ on the Governor’s address in the budget session of the 15th Assam Legislative Assembly. Wednesday, Sarma said the encounters were “not pre-planned”. He said that criminals including drug peddlers should be made aware of how Assam Police has evolved and what should be done if caught.
“The police will pick up the revolver only when instigated by someone else. Criminals should know that the Assam Police has changed – if you fire a pistol, they too will respond with one. Drug smugglers should raise their hands immediately after being caught and their consignment seized. There is no appeasement politics here, but bullets will be answered with a barrage of bullets.
Posting his speech on Twitter, the chief minister wrote that “the onus is on the criminals, not the police, to avoid encounters”.
The responsibility of not having an encounter is not on the police but on the criminals. The criminals will have to surrender before the police.@assampolice pic.twitter.com/ScCcFQVh0u
– Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) March 15, 2023
In a written reply to a question by All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Ashraful Hussain on Monday, Sarma had said that from May 10, 2021 to February 28, 2023, 35 people were killed and 12 injured in encounters with the police in various districts. were injured. In the same period, he said, 26 accused had killed in police firing and 146 were injured. Five others died in accidents while trying to escape from police custody, he said.
In the Assembly on Wednesday, Sarma also said that there has been a decline in crime against women, but “every action should be in accordance with the law”.
(Editing by Sunanda Ranjan)
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