Assam CM suspends four policemen for deserting SP during encounter

The encounter was with Karbi Peoples' Liberation Tiger militants in which a Superintendent of Police and his PSO were killed

Four policemen were today suspended for allegedly running away from an encounter with Karbi Peoples' Liberation Tiger militants in which a Superintendent of Police and his PSO were killed even as the family of the slain officer demanded a CBI probe.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi suspended the four Personal Security Officers of the slain police official as they had fled from the encounter site leaving behind Hamren SP Nitya Nanda Goswami Goswami and another PSO Ratul Nunisa, official sources said here.

The SP, his additional SP and other policemen had split into three groups to launch the operation in Rongthang forest area against the ultras with Goswami heading a team of five policemen.

The policemen were suspended with immediate effect and their role was being investigated, the sources said.

Goswami's wife Rekha demanded a CBI inquiry into the death of her husband.

"We were told that he, along with his PSO was missing from the previous night and the other policemen refused to go in search of him saying that they would go in the morning. We want justice and a proper investigation into the incident," she told reporters here.