Drug smuggler shot at during escape attempt in Guwahati

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Drug smuggler Safiqul Islam, who was arrested by the city police with a huge quantity of drugs, was shot in the leg while he was trying to escape from custody on Tuesday evening.

Islam was arrested from his house at Mazali in the Dharapur area under Azara Police Station on Tuesday. During the raid, the police team seized 1.60 lakh Yaba tablets and recovered Rs 26 lakh from his possession. The market value of the seized drugs is around Rs 2.5 crore.

Ismail tried to escape custody while he showing the police the areas where he used to make drug deals. By seeing an opportunity, Ismail tried to escape from a location near SOS Children Village following which he was fired upon. He was taken to the MMCH (Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital) and was later shifted to the GMCH (Gauhati Medical College and Hospital).

According to the police source, the accused is a native of Mankachar in the Dhubri district. Earlier, he was staying at a rented house in Garigaon, Jalukbari and shifted to Mazali three months ago. The source said that Ismail was engaged in drug smuggling for the last two years. After directly receiving drugs from Manipur, Ismail supplied the drugs in various districts of lower Assam.

Meanwhile, further investigation is on and the Azara Police has registered a case (406/2021) U/S 22(C) of the NDPS Act against the accused.

Also Read: Assam Govt's 'War on Drugs' Continues to Bust Drug Cartels Across State