A cattle smuggler Mohammad Akhtar Raja was injured at a police firing on Thursday in Dibrugarh while he tried to escape from custody. Raja sustained an injury at his right leg and admitted to Assam Medical College and Hospital.
Akhtar Raja was arrested on Wednesday by Dibrugarh Police and seized large numbers of cattle from his possession.
"He tried to escape from our custody when we had taken him to Brahmaputra Chapori for further recovery of cattle. Our police team shot him in his right leg to foil his escape bid. He sustained an injury at his right leg and has been admitted to AMCH for treatment," Dibrugarh SP Shwetank Mishra said.
On Wednesday, Dibrugarh police arrested three cattle smugglers and seized 95 cattle heads from their possession at Brahmaputra riverbank in upper Assam's Dibrugarh.
The smugglers have been identified as Mohammad Akhtar Raja alias Tiklu Khan, Mohammad Anuwarul Haque and Mohammad Anish Rahman.
A case (no 1339/21) u/s 468/471/429/153(a)/397/411 IPC r/w sec 8 of Assam Cattle Preservation Act, 1950, amended in 1962 has been registered at Dibrugarh police station.
Sources said Tiklo Khan was involved in many criminal activities and he runs the cattle syndicate in the upper Assam area.
"Tiklo Khan is a notorious cattle smuggler in upper Assam and he smuggled most of the cattle through river route and sell them at a high price. He runs the cattle syndicate in upper Assam by managing police, journalists, organization leaders. He is an expert in creating forged documents," said a police official.
At least seven alleged criminals received gunshot injury since May 10 while "trying to flee" from police custody in Assam.