Assam: Prime accused in businessman murder shot dead

Ganja smuggler

The prime accused in the killing of a businessman was shot dead by the police on Saturday, after he attempted to escape from custody at Sonapur in Assam’s Kamrup Metropolitan district, officials said.

Shah Alam Talukdar, accused in the killing of businessman Ranjit Bora, had “escaped” from police custody on Friday, while he was being taken to the crime spot, they said.

A police officer said he was nabbed from Sonapur area on Friday night, but “attempted to flee” from custody again, prompting personnel of the force to shoot him.

Talukdar was taken to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital with bullet injuries, where he was declared dead, he said.

The accused and four others were arrested earlier in February, over two months after the killing of Bora, a distributor of a dairy cooperative.

Bora was shot dead on November 21 by two motorcycle-borne assailants, who fled the scene with over Rs 2 lakh cash that he carried for depositing in a bank. The gunmen shot him in the neck in the Panjabari area of the city.

He was a distributor of the West Assam Milk Producers’ Co-operative Union Ltd.

Police had claimed that the accused admitted to have committed the crime on a motorcycle, which was subsequently recovered, along with a pistol.