'Shooting escaping criminals should be pattern': Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Taking a leaf out of his UP counterpart Yogi Adityanath's book, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that shooting at criminals "should be the pattern" if they attempt to escape from custody. Sarma also justified a series of shootouts reported from his state in recent times.

"If an accused tries to snatch the service gun and run away, or even simply flee, and on top of it he is, say, a rapist, the law allows shooting at such a person on the leg, but not on the chest," PTI quoted Sarma as saying.

"When someone asked me whether shooting incidents are becoming a pattern in the state, I replied that (shooting) should be the pattern if it involves a criminal trying to escape police custody," he said.

Speaking for the first time to all Officers-in-Charge of the state's police stations on "Redefining Policing Standards in Assam", the CM on Monday issued directions to strictly deal with crimes against women and show zero tolerance.