Assam minister raises concerns over police postings

An Assam minister today expressed concern over the posting of a senior person like 58-year-old Nitya Nanda Goswami, the SP who was killed by insurgents along with his personal security officer, in a difficult area like Hamren police district, while an internal enquiry was ordered by the DG into Thursday night's killing.
Health and Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "He (Goswami) was to retire in two years. Why such a senior person was posted in a difficult area like Hamren when we have many young SPs in the state?"
The Home Department should analyse this and should not treat it as a normal encounter case, Sarma told reporters after visiting the family members of Nitul Nunisa, Goswami's PSO who was also killed by Karbi People's Liberation Tigers (KPLT) insurgents.

The Minister also stressed the need to modernise the arms used by policemen and give more training to them.
"Higher level enquiry should be initiated by agencies like CBI into the incident. Our government should take a positive step. Whatever enquiry is done, I will request CM sir to make public the report," he added.
Sarma also criticised the police for its alleged erroneous exercise of gun salute during Nunisa's funeral where only six rounds were reportedly fired instead of 21.

"If it is true that only six rounds were fired instead of 21 rounds, the police should enquire it and let the public know what went wrong. Was it some malfunctioning of the weapon or something else?" he added.

The police came under sharp criticism from various quarters across the state today following reports that the police personnel could not fire the mandatory 21 rounds.
Local TV channels were showing that policemen were even struggling to fit a magazine into the rifle and could not fire the gun.