A man accused in a lethal robbery in central Assam’s Nagaon district was killed in an exchange of fire with the police on Monday (May 25, 2026), hours after two men allegedly involved in collecting extortion money for a banned extremist outfit were injured in a similar incident in eastern Assam’s Sivasagar district.
Partha Pratim Das, Nagaon’s Senior Superintendent of Police, said the police intercepted an armed gang at a location in the Borkandoli area, where it had planned a burglary.
In self-defence
“The gang members opened two rounds of fire when our team neared the spot. The police retaliated in self-defence, and a person sustained bullet injuries in the exchange of fire,” he told journalists.
The injured man, identified as Khairul Ali from northeastern Assam’s North Lakhimpur town, was rushed to the Nagaon Medical College and Hospital, but died on the way.
Police said the other members of the gang fled after the encounter at 2 a.m., but a 7.65 mm pistol, two empty cartridges, a machete, and an iron rod were recovered from the site.
Burglary case accused
Ali was reportedly among the main accused in an April 24 burglary case at the house of Ranjit Saikia, a doctor, in Nagaon district’s Morikolong area. The doctor’s wife, Ruprekha Bhuyan, died two weeks after the burglars attacked them with sharp weapons.
Seven more members of the gang involved in the incident have been arrested so far, the Nagaon police said.
Their Sivasagar counterparts said they encountered a group of six men, who came to Molagaon on Sunday (May 24, 2026) to collect ₹8 lakh from a businessman after serving him with an extortion notice. They were allegedly working for the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent).
“The suspects opened fire, prompting retaliatory firing,” a police official said.
One of the suspects, identified as Ritu Gogoi, suffered five bullet wounds. A bullet grazed the abdomen of another, identified as Jitu Gogoi.
Police said the remaining members of the group were on the run.
The two encounters within 24 hours were the first after Himanta Biswa Sarma was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Assam for the second straight term. More than 50 people were killed in encounters during his first term, from May 2021.
Campaigning for one of his party candidates before the April 9 Assembly elections, Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi accused the Chief Minister of killing 80 people through fake encounters.
Published – May 26, 2026 09:33 pm IST
