A man arrested in connection with an arson attack on a police station in Assam’s Nagaon this month died on Sunday night after a police vehicle hit him while he was allegedly trying to escape from custody.
Three policemen were also injured in the incident.
This is the second such incident in the state since December, after Niraj Das, the prime accused in the lynching of a student leader, died in a similar manner in Assam’s Jorhat.
“The accused, Ashikul Islam, was booked by the police on Sunday, and we took him in for questioning,” said Nagaon SP Leena Doley, told The Indian Express.
During the interrogation, Ashikul had admitted that he had stored arms in his house, claimed the police.
“So, our team went looking for the arms. After the search operation ended, on the way back he tried to escape from the car and the escort vehicle behind him accidentally ran him over,” Doley was quoted as saying by The Indian Express, adding that he was declared brought dead by the hospital.
Islam was among 11 people, including the trader’s widow, minor daughter, and his two relatives, arrested in connection with the attack. Videos of the incident purportedly showed the trader’s daughter pouring an inflammable liquid on motorcycles kept at the police station and his widow setting them on fire.
The authorities had demolished homes of those who had allegedly set fire to the police station. This included Safikul’s home. According to police, the accused were “encroachers” and were staying on government land with “forged” documents. The accused were also booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for their suspected terror links.
Police maintained the trader was picked up in a drunken state on May 20 following a complaint and was released the next day. They claimed he fell unconscious after eating something at home and was later declared dead.
