Assam dacoit wanted for doctor’s wife murder killed in gunfight, say police

ASuspected dakoit, who allegedly headed a dakoity racquet operating crosswise Nagaon, Lakhimpur dominion and other parts of Assam, was allegedly killed in a police encounter on Tuesday in Nagaon, police said.Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Partha Pratim Das said that an exchange of fire between a group of suspected dacoits and police occurred in the Rangalu area of the district around 2.30am. A 7.65mm pistol, two empty cartridges and several sharp weapons were recovered from the encounter site.“Based on specific intelligence inputs...we launched an operation. However, soon after our team reached the spot, the persons opened fire,” Das said. Police retaliated in self-defence, he said.The deceased, identified as Khairul Ali alias Moni, 32, was a resident of Lakhimpur district and allegedly involved in multiple dacoities across the state, including one from April 24 at a doctor’s residence in Nagaon district, in which his wife died.The operation led by the additional superintendent of police, launched on Monday night resulted in two gang members being injured while the remaining fled.Also Read:3 get 10-yr jail in Mauli Jagran dacoity case“We believe there were more individuals involved, but most of them managed to flee. Two of them sustained injuries and were taken to a government hospital where doctors declared one of them dead,” he said.On April 24, Dr Ranjit Saikia and his wife Ruprekha Bhuyan Saikia were attacked by dacoits after they confronted them. While the couple sustained serious injuries, their nine-year-old son escaped unhurt. On May 11 Ruprekha succumbed to her injuries.A case was registered against Khairul and five others under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including section 310(2) (dacoity with murder). While several individuals were arrested, the prime suspect Khairul Ali remained absconding.According to police, two locals, Harish Sharma and Satish Shah, allegedly acted as key informers for the gang posing as juice sellers.“They used to collect information about potential targets and share it with Khairul, who would later prepare and execute the dacoity. One such plan was recently finalised, but we intervened before its execution,” officers said.Police said a team of eight to nine dacoits, including Khairul arrived in Nagaon a few days back and stayed at a hotel in the town. “We are not revealing who their target was this time, but it was a major plan,” officers said.“Khairul was the mastermind behind this racket and we have found at least nine criminal cases registered against him,” the SSP said.Following the encounter, Khairul’s body was sent to Nagaon Medical College and Hospital for postmortem examination and his family members were asked to visit the hospital for identification.Police said efforts are underway to trace the remaining members of the gang who managed to flee during the operation.