SILCHAR: Yet another incident of encounter in the Barak Valley as Karimganj police on Sunday fired at Md Anwar Ali, accused of gutting down a Shiva temple at a village in Ratabari a few days back.
The police arrested Ali on Saturday and, on the basis of his confession, took him to Damcherra Tripuri Punji in Ratabari today. According to sources, Ali confessed that he had kept a firearm at the place of his friends after burning down the two-century-old temple of the tribal village. After recovering the firearms, the police team was returning to Karimganj when Ali reportedly stopped the vehicle as he was to attend nature’s call. A police source said that Ali then forcibly snatched a rifle from a constable and tried to escape. Despite repeated appeals by the police team to surrender, Ali allegedly pointed the rifles at the force. Finally, the policemen shot two bullets at his legs, and Ali fell down. He was first taken to the Ramakrishna Nagar Health Centre and later shifted to the Silchar Medical College Hospital (SMCH). Recently, much tension gripped Damcherra, a Reang-inhabited village, as the ancient Shiva temple was found reduced to ashes by unidentified miscreants.
Significantly, a few days ago, the local administration evicted a group of illegal dwellers who allegedly tried to grab the land of the tribals. It was presumed that to avenge the eviction, the illegal dwellers gutted down the temple.
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