The Himal World 
Siliguri, 15 Jan

In what looked like a scene straight from a Bollywood flick, motorcycle-borne miscreants allegedly attacked a police team, leaving an ASI and a constable injured, and fled with an under-trial, who was being taken back to prison from a trial court.
The Islampur Police District in North Dinajpur district in West Bengal, however, claimed that the under-trial, Sajjad Alam, was alone when he attacked the police and fled on Wednesday evening.
According to sources, Alam, who was arrested in 2019 on charges of murdering a man, was on Wednesday taken to the Islampur court from the Raiganj correctional home. As he was being taken back to Raiganj, Alam wanted to answer nature’s call and the police van stopped for a while.
Sources said a group of men in motorcycles arrived at the place near Panjipara under the Goalpokar Police Station and attacked the police.
“They snatched a revolver from one of the police personnel and fired at the cops, leaving two of them injured,” a source said.
The injured police personnel have been identified as ASI Neel Kanti Sarkar and constable Deven Baisya. They were taken to the Islampur sub-divisional hospital from where they were referred to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, sources said.
However, Superintendent of Police of the Islampur Police District, Joby Thomas, refuted reports that a group of miscreants were involved in the incident.
“Preliminary investigations have revealed that the incident was the handiwork of Sajjad Alam alone. We are investigating the matter further and we are confident that Alam will be caught soon,” Thomas said.