Cuttack UPD Police Inspector Gangadhar Saseni, who had led the escort team for shifting Shiekh Hyder to Baripada Circle Jail from Choudwar Circle Jail on Saturday, lodged an FIR at the Simulia police station in Baleswar district on Monday regarding the details of the encounter, in which the gangster was shot dead.
The FIR stated that Hyder had snatched an AK-47 rifle from a Havildar and threatened the policemen of the escort party to kill them before being shot.
Since he was a hardcore criminal and previously had escaped from police custody from the SCB Medical College Hospital, he was handcuffed as a precautionary measure to prevent any attempt to escape, stated Saseni in the FIR.
“But we stopped the vehicle near a Hanuman temple at Simulia. Hyder requested to unlock his handcuffs as he had to attend nature’s call and wash his hands. As soon as a policeman unlocked one side of the handcuff, he immediately snatched an AK-47 from Havildar Surya Kumar Rout and ran to a distance,” said the FIR.
Pointing the gun towards the escort party, Hyder started hurling abuses at them in Hindi and said “Ek baar main farar hua tha, tum police wale mujhe Hyderabad se pakad liye. Iss baar main farar hunga, koi police mujhe pakad nahi sakega. Koi mujhe pakadne ke liye aage badhega toh goli maar dunga,” the FIR stated.
Though Saseni and SI Asit Ranjan Jena warned him repeatedly to surrender before the police, he refused and threatened to open fire at them, the FIR stated.
“In such a dangerous situation of life and death and in exercise of the right to self-defence, and to save the life of police personnel from imminent danger, ASI Jena fired three rounds from his service pistol to prevent any attack. He took all precautions to resort to controlled fire to hit in the lower part of the body below the waist of the convict with a view to immobilise him and to prevent him from opening fire, which endangered the lives of all police personnel,” Saseni mentioned in the FIR.
Saseni further mentioned that if the escort would not have retaliated, Hyder would have killed the escort party members with the automatic rifle that he snatched from Havildar Surya Kumar Rout.
Though the escort team immediately shifted Hyder to the Baleswar District Headquarters Hospital, he died while undergoing treatment, Saseni mentioned in the FIR.
