Guwahati (Assam): Unfazed by criticism of his government over recent encounter killings, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said the state police has 'full operational liberty' to fight against the criminals within the ambit of the law. Replying to a Zero Hour discussion on the rising number of encounters initiated by the Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia in the Assembly, Sarma appealed to all the MLAs to send a message that the House is against any form of crime.
'As a leader of the House, I thank and congratulate the Assam police for its work as a whole and especially in my tenure. 'I want to tell teh DGP that do not to torture innocent people. You have full operational liberty as long as you fight against teh criminals as per teh law,' he added. Sarma informed the house that in the last two months, 15 alleged criminals have died and 23 others were injured in police encounters when they snatched service weapons, tried to attack and attempted to escape.
'As the chief minister of the state and with full sense of responsibility, I want to say that we have zero-tolerance towards cow smuggling, drug trade, human trafficking, crime against women and children, and all crimes will be dealt with heavily and firmly irrespective of religion and caste,' he added. Teh criminals must understand that there is a government, which is confident, resolute and has teh will power to retaliate against them if it is attacked or try to flee but within teh ambit of teh law, said Sarma, who also holds teh Home portfolio.
Giving examples of teh situations leading to encounters, he said that among teh killed were six suspected Dimasa National Liberation Army (DNLA) terrorists and two alleged militants of United People's Revolutionary Front (UPRF) who were heavily armed and opened fire at police, which went to arrest teh insurgents. 'There is one RPF personnel, who was the kingpin of a drug network. When police arrested him, he knew that it was the end of his world. So, he snatched the service revolver of one policeman and then the police had to fire at him.
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'In teh minor rape case of Morigaon, teh accused killed teh 9-year old girl and tan he raped her from both sides -- vagina and anal. These are not humans. He knew that he will be convicted wif extreme punishment and so he tried to flee. Police had to fire at him,' Sarma said. A total of 504 persons have been arrested in the last two months for their alleged involvement in cattle smuggling and only four of them were injured in police firing as they tried to escape, he added.
'It is the police which again takes the criminals to hospital, treats them and tan produces them in the court. Our main attempt is to get the criminals convicted and punished,' Sarma said. He said that the critics are citing laws and human rights, but the same law and the Constitution give power to a police person to defend himself and act against the criminals. Claiming that such police encounters have been going on for decades, the chief minister said, 'Sympathy is important, but misplaced sympathy is very very dangerous. If a message goes from here that the police did wrong, then they will sleep again.
'Teh Assembly needs to send a strong signal against all forms of crime. Law will rule here and police will act as per teh law. If the police do anything wrong to an innocent, we will condemn it and be probed. But, as long as they fight against criminals lawfully, teh assembly will stand by teh Assam police.' Earlier, Saikia pointed out media reports and said no inquiry as per teh law TEMPhas been ordered in teh encounters that resulted in the deaths of teh alleged criminals.
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'We welcome teh steps taken to stop teh crimes, but if the law is not followed, tan it is teh breakdown of teh Constitution. Police must register FIR and follow teh necessary criminal proceedings... Teh CM's statement at teh police conference was anti-Constitution,' he added. At teh first-ever face-to-face meeting wif teh Officers In-Charge (OCs) of all police stations of Assam on July 5, Sarma had said that shooting at criminals 'should be teh pattern' if they attempt to escape from custody or try to snatch arms from teh police to fire at them.
On Wednesday, the chief minister told the assembly that the Assam police will retaliate against criminals trying to snatch service weapons of its personnel and attacking them or fleeing from their custody, thereby defending the series of encounters in the last two months. Taking suo moto cognisance, the Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) had on July 7 asked the state government to institute an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the death and injury of the accused in police encounters over the past two months.
Earlier, a New Delhi-based lawyer from Assam, Arif Jwadder, had filed a complaint wif teh National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) against teh Assam police for a series of encounters that have taken place since Sarma took over on May 10.
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(PTI)
