Amid SC scrutiny, Assam records fourth police encounter of 2025 in Guwahati's Jorabat

Guwahati, Feb. 5: Even as the Supreme Court raises concerns over the surge in police encounters in Assam, the state has already recorded four cases this year. The latest of these took place in Jorabat, Guwahati, in the intervening night of Wednesday.

A suspect, identified as Dibyajyoti Saikia, was shot in the leg while attempting to escape police custody. He is part of a gang of habitual vehicle thieves operating across Guwahati, the officials said.

According to police reports, Saikia and two other alleged bike thieves, Ajay Singh and Dipu Teron, were arrested on Tuesday night. During interrogation, Saikia and Singh offered to help recover stolen vehicles and led officers to a secluded wooded area in 13 Mile near Jorabat.

However, upon reaching the spot, the police team came under attack, with stones being pelted at them by unidentified persons. Taking advantage of the chaos, Saikia attempted to flee.

“In self-defence, and amid the stone-pelting, police fired warning shots in the air. When Saikia continued to escape, we were forced to shoot him in the leg to stop him,” an official told The Assam Tribune.

Saikia, along with a police constable injured during the gunfire, is currently undergoing treatment at GMCH (Gauhati Medical College and Hospital).

Just days earlier, on January 21, police opened fire on an alleged serial offender near Garbhanga Hills in Guwahati.

Before that, two separate encounters unfolded within 24 hours in Guwahati and Sribhumi, where fleeing suspects were shot in the leg to prevent their escape.

The encounter comes at a time when Assam’s increasing police encounters are under the Supreme Court scrutiny.

In a parallel development on Tuesday, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh told advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner Arif Md Yeasin Jwadder that it couldn't go into the merit of the alleged 171 police encounters but only see whether its guidelines on such extra-judicial killings were duly followed.

"The guidelines laid down for these encounters in the PUCL versus Maharashtra case (2014 case) by this court were grossly violated. It can be seen from the statements given by the injured and the family members of the deceased," said Bhushan.

The police have been maintaining that these shootings occur when suspects attempt to flee or attack officers during custody.