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GUWAHATI: A person accused in the rape-cum-murder of a seven-year-old girl was killed in an alleged encounter with the police in Assam’s Udalguri district in the wee hours of Wednesday, officials informed.
According to the police, Rajesh Munda, 38, sustained bullet injuries during an attempt to escape from police custody at Majbat. He was taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead.
This is the second such death of a rape accused in the state in the past 24 hours. On Tuesday night, Biki Ali, an accused in the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl, was killed in police firing by Guwahati police.
“We had registered a case on March 10 about the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl. Based on our investigation the accused Rajesh Munda was apprehended on Tuesday from a factory in Baihata Chariali,” said Bidyut Das Boro, additional superintendent of police, Udalguri.
“The accused escaped from custody around 2:30 am on Wednesday while being taken to the place of occurrence of the crime. In an attempt to prevent him from fleeing, the police team fired some shots in which he was injured. He was taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead,” he added.
Assam has witnessed a number of so-called encounters since May last year when a new Bharatiya Janata Party-led government headed by Himanta Biswa Sarma took charge. Sarma, who also heads the home department, urged the police to be strict against criminals and even shoot them in their legs if they try to flee from custody or attack policemen.
The Gauhati high court is at present hearing a petition filed by advocate Arif Jwadder in December last year alleging that 80 incidents of ‘fake encounters’ had happened in the state since May 2021, which resulted in 28 deaths and left 48 injured.
In an affidavit filed last month in response to the petition, the Assam government stated that all required legal procedures as well as guidelines issued by National Human Rights Commission of India were followed in all encounters.
It informed the court that 28 persons had been killed and 73 others injured in encounters between 10 May 2021 and January 28 this year.
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