Dibrugarh: A police personnel was shot by suspected drug peddlers during an anti-drug operation near the Assam-Manipur border in Cachar district on Tuesday night.
According to reports, he was shot twice by the drug peddlers gang.
The injured policeman, identified as Havildar Sharif Hossain Kazi (55), was initially shifted to Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH).
According to police, the incident took place in the Diglang area of Jirighat around 8 pm during an anti-drug operation.
Speaking to reporters, Cachar Senior Superintendent of Police(SSP) Sanjib Saikia said, “He sustained two bullet injuries, one in the abdomen and another below it, causing severe trauma. He was first taken to SMCH, but on Wednesday morning he was airlifted to Guwahati for advanced treatment,”.
SSP said the operation was launched based on specific intelligence inputs about the movement of drug peddlers, who are suspected to have come from neighbouring Manipur.
Following the incident, a video of the injured havildar surfaced on social media, in which he was seen seeking help from locals to contact his seniors.
Police said no arrests have been made so far, as the suspects escaped through the dense forest and the inter-state border. A search operation is underway and further investigation is in progress
Some locals alleged that Kazi had been sent alone to confront the peddlers and was not in uniform, raising questions over operational preparedness. However, Saikia denied the claims, stating that a full team was deployed and that some personnel were in plain clothes as part of the operation.