Preliminary investigations into Sunday’s police encounter that killed four suspected criminals including a contract killer in East Garo Hills’ Songsak have exposed a possible Assam-Meghalaya contract-killing and ransom network, police said on Monday.
The encounter appears to be the culmination of an intelligence-led operation that began in Assam – following Syed’s murder — where four people were arrested in connection with the Damra murder. Four people — Sabul Islam, Nayab Ali, Azad Ali and Mafidul Islam — were arrested by Dudhnoi police in connection with Syed’s murder. Police recovered two factory-made pistols, live and spent ammunition from the Bolero.
The link surfaced after Assam police identified one of the four men shot dead on Sunday as the alleged gunman involved in the August 23 killing of businessman Abu Syed in Assam’s Damra locality. At around 4am on Sunday, a Bolero bearing registration number AS-01-FD-2889 approached the checkpoint and was signalled to stop. “They met Alason and asked him to kill Abu Syed for ₹ 2 lakh. They paid ₹ 1.20 lakh, while ₹ 80,000 was pending.
They allegedly told investigators that money was given to a contract killer named Alason Marak to kill Syed. Marak from North Garo Hills was one of the four killed in Sunday’s encounter; the other three were identified as Sustom Rabha, Kalam Ali and Bobidul Islam, all three from Goalpara, according to an East Garo Hills police statement. “On noticing the police personnel, the occupants opened fire on the police team,” Vasantrao said, adding “The police team immediately responded in self-defence, resulting in a brief exchange of fire. Sabul was the victim’s brother, Nayab an employee, while Azad and Mafidul were business associates, police said. It can be said that a supari (contract) was given,” the Dudhnoi police officer said, adding that the investigation so far indicated that the Damra incident was business-related. Vasantrao said the investigation was examining “the circumstances leading to the exchange of fire, the firearms and ammunition recovered, and other relevant evidence”.
The Damra investigation had already taken a dramatic turn before the Songsak encounter.
