On July 5, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated at a conference titled “Redefining Policing Standards in Assam,” which was attended by Officers-in-Charge of all police stations in the state, that those who attempt to flee police custody will be treated with zero tolerance, and that “this should be a pattern if someone was trying to flee.”
Himanta Biswa Sarma said,” If someone snatches weapons from the Police and trying to escape, and on top of that, he is a rapist, Police cannot shoot him in the chest, but shooting at the leg is the law.”
Chief Minister Sarma, who is in charge of the Home Ministry of Assam, wanted Police to get more strict with those indulged in cattle smuggling.“Those who smuggle cows should be caught at all cost. I don’t even want it to go to the charge sheet stage because our cows need to be protected, A cow is like a god to us,” he said to the officers in charge of districts bordering West Bengal and Bangladesh.
After Sarma took the office as the CM of Assam, he announced a massive drive against cattle smuggling, drug trafficking, and other organized crimes in the state.
Like Uttar Pradesh under Yogi Adityanath, the criminals involved in rape, murder, cattle smuggling, and drug trafficking who allegedly attempted to escape from jail were shot in Assam under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
However, the opposition in Assam has accused the government of running a police state and called Sarma ‘trigger happy.” However, state police have denied the allegations, claiming that such measures were only necessary when criminals attempted to flee and police officers were forced to fire at them due to the circumstances.
CM Sarma said, “Today, if two kidnappers are nabbed, and they retaliate, the policeman has no choice but to fire, otherwise the policeman himself will die.” He further added,” when someone asks him if shooing incidents are becoming a pattern in the state, he says that it should be a pattern if the criminal tries to escape police custody. But before doing what law has permitted us to do, we must keep our conscience clear that our work is for the good of the people and not to serve any interest of our own,”.
As of now, the new standard operating procedure is that the state would take a zero-tolerance approach towards any criminal who tries to escape. Sarma made it very clear that in a democracy, crime is fought through law and not encounters. He said, “This happens only when there are no other means and criminal cases in Assam will come down by 50 percent if the charge sheet is filed quickly.”
The CM of Assam also has allocated more funds to create new police stations and a fund of Rs.2.5 lakh for each Police station annually to meet recurring expenses such as fortnightly medical check-ups of all staff.
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