GUWAHATI, DEC 13: Dibrugarh police on Monday night arrested Arup Gogoi alias Tippo (28), one of the accused in the firing incident that took place in Dibrugarh on October 31 in which one Siddhartha Rajkhowa, an employee of a local court in Dibrugarh was injured.
His arrest and subsequent interrogation led to the recovery of a 9mm pistol which was used in the shooting incident.
Siddhartha Rajkhowa was shot at by two motorcycle-borne assailants at Laluka on the NH-37 on the evening of October 31 while he was returning home on his motorcycle.
The police had arrested Siddhartha Rajkhowa’s nephew Pradipta Rajkhowa and four others in connection with the incident which was a fallout of a property dispute. During police investigation it came to light that Arup Gogoi alias Tippo was riding the motorcycle while Pradipta Rajkhowa who was sitting behind shot at his uncle from close range. Significantly Pradipta Rajkhowa and Arup Gogoi are brother in law. They are both married to each other’s sister.
After the incident, a blank cartridge fired from a 9mm pistol was also recovered from the site. On November 5, the Dibrugarh police had announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 for information related to the firearm used in the shooting incident.
Apart from Pradipta Rajkhowa and Arup Gogoi, four others arrested in the case are Pradip Rajkhowa, Ranjan Gogoi, Dipak Kurmi are Mintu Hazarika. They have been booked under section 120B/327/307 of the IPC r/w section 27(1) of the Arms Act.
Dibrugarh SP Shwetank Mishra said, “The arrest of Arup Gogoi alias Tippo led to the recovery of the pistol which was kept hidden among shrubs near a pond at Jopora Gaon. It was an important piece of evidence. He has confesed that he was riding the bike while his brother in-law Pradipta Rajkhowa fired at Siddhartha Rajkhowa. He had carried out the attack due to property dispute. The others have been arrested for hatching the conspiracy. Before the shootout all of them had gone for a picnic where the plan was hatched.”
The SP further said that the Officer-in-Charge of Dibrugarh police station Raju Chetri has been rewarded by the Assam Police Headquarters for exemplary work which led to the cracking of the case.