Nagaon dacoity mastermind shot dead in cop encounter

Guwahati: The mastermind behind Nagaon’s Morikolong dacoity, which happened in April, was shot dead during an encounter with officers from Nagaon police station during early hours of Tuesday.The deceased, identified as Khairul Ali alias Moni, hails from Lakhimpur district and was staying at a Nagaon hotel to carry out another dacoity. Police said the encounter happened in the district’s Barkandoli village.“We received inputs about a planned dacoity attempt. When we arrived at the spot, the gang members opened fire at us. It was dark, and we could not make out how many of them were there. The officers retaliated in defence. During the exchange, Khairul was shot dead. No police personnel was injured during the exchange,” said Nagaon SSP Partha Pratim Das.Following the incident, a 7.65 mm pistol, two empty cartridges, a machete and an iron rod were recovered from the shoot-out spot, Das added.Das said apart from the Morikolong incident, Khairul was also involved in other dacoity incidents in Lakhimpur, Nagaon and other places across the state.The Morikolong incident happened on the night of April 24, where a gang of dacoits broke into the house of Dr Ranjit Saikia and Ruprekha Bhuyan, and attacked them with sharp objects. Bhuyan, Saikia’s wife, succumbed to her injuries from the incident earlier this month.“We earlier arrested the members who were involved in the robbery — Umar Ali, Mintu Mallik Hussain, Nazirul Islam, Rezak Ali, Razibur Rahman, Nur Hussain Ali, Harish Sharma and Satash Shah. They have been produced before the court and are behind bars,” Das added.He said the dacoits arrived in Nagaon on April 22, two days before the incident, and were staying at a hotel. Khairul had received logistical support from Sharma and Shah. Through Khairul, they were in contact with the other gang members.