Silchar: A dreaded criminal who had escaped from the Silchar Central Jail in Assam exactly two months ago was killed in an encounter with police near the Meghalaya border on July 10 at midnight.
Silchar police said that the dreaded criminal, identified as Hifzur Rahman, had been on the run for almost two months after he and another criminal managed to escape from the Silchar Central Jail.
According to Silchar police, Rahman had managed to break out of prison on May 11 and had been on the run since. Police on July 10 received information about his whereabouts. According to the tip-off, a police team had gone to capture him at Ratacherra in the Cachar district near the Assam-Meghalaya border.
When the Silchar police team approached the hideout of Hifzur Rahman, the criminal opened fire on the police. In retaliation, the police team resorted to firing at Rahman, during which he sustained gunshot wounds and was critically injured.
Two policemen were also injured in the shootout. Injured Hifzur Rahman and the two police personnel were admitted to Silchar Medical College Hospital (SMCH). However, Hifzur died while receiving treatment. The injured policemen are out of danger, a hospital source said.
It should be mentioned that Hifzur Rahman was convicted in the 2011 high-profile Naz murder case. Hifzur and his gang abducted and killed 20-year-old student Ahrar Ahmed popularly known as Naz. The victim was the son of the MP Badruddin Ajmal, led by AIUDF party district president Tofail Ahmed. Hifzur, a notorious Barak Valley of Assam criminal, was involved in several criminal cases. The bullet-ridden dead body of Naz was found after five days after his abduction.
Interestingly, the father of the victim boy and AIUDF leader, Tofail Ahmed, was also killed in broad daylight by the Hifzur gang. Later Hifzur was arrested by police, and he was found guilty in the sensational double murder case. A local court awarded him life imprisonment. The criminal was serving imprisonment in Silchar central jail. He and another criminal broke out of jail on May 11 this year and was on the run for the last two months.
