TURA: A man who snatched a police rifle and fled on the night of July 21 in Mahendraganj town triggering a law and order problem over reports of his death in police firing was found by police on Friday afternoon in an isolated locality of the border town.
The accused, Ahidul Islam (33), who reportedly had a history of mental seizures, snatched an Insas rifle of a battalion constable when a police team tried to confiscate a dagger (dao) he was wielding and trying to attack passersby on Sunday night.
“We got information about his presence near Tarapara area of Mahendraganj and our police team that rushed there found him loitering there,” South West Garo Hills Superintendent of Police Rituraj Ravi told The Shillong Times.
According to police, the accused was found hale and hearty but the stolen weapon was missing.
“He claimed he threw the rifle into the flood waters the same night and fled. We are conducting a search in the area where he says the rifle was thrown,” added the district police chief.
He told police that he fled from the scene on Sunday night and took refuge on the roof top of a flooded house at Nandichar. The next morning he escaped to Tarapara and put himself up in a deserted area.
Police are not buying his tale of living alone and without food the entire week given the healthy condition he was found in on Friday.
“It appears he had help. We are investigating this angle too,” said Ravi.
On that eventful night, police had fired in the air after he snatched the rifle from a constable who fell into the flood waters while attempting to confiscate his dao.
The accused fled with the weapon the same night and by Monday morning rumours began circulating that he had been shot dead by police the previous night.
An angry mob laid siege to the Mahendraganj police station and attacked security forces with bricks and stones attempting to even set on fire a fire tender truck.
Police had to open blank fire to disperse the crowd and the administration clamped curfew for two consecutive nights to control the situation.
The incident took a political turn with the opposition Congress demanding an independent probe claiming that something was amiss.
Congress leader Zenith M Sangma even jumped the gun to claim that what was being reported in the media was only the version of the police and nothing could be ruled out at the moment.
