Guwahati Mar 28 PTI Asserting that death or injury of suspected criminals as they try to flee custody was nothing new in the state minister Pijush Hazarika told the Assembly on Monday that the police needed to act tough to control crimeAssam has witnessed a spurt in police encounters since Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma assumed office on May 10 with the opposition alleging that the police has turned trigger happyDefending police action on criminals trying to escape the parliamentary affairs minister said There is no such word as encounter in the Assam Police manual If a criminal tries to escape or attack the police they may get injured or killedDeath of criminals due to police action is not something new it has happened in the past too Hazarika said responding to a question by Opposition MLA Kamalakhya Dey PurkayasthaHe was replying on behalf of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who also holds the Home portfolio The police should always act tough and ensure that crime is controlled the minister statedCrime rate has decreased by 30 per cent since May last year when Sarma took charge he claimedHazarika further pointed out that action had been against police personnel too if found flouting rulesPurkayastha had raised questions on the recurrence of encounters in the state and sought to know if there were any lacunae in police training that led criminals to routinely attempt an escape from custodyIndependent MLA Akhil Gogoi in a supplementary question claimed that the official figure of suspected criminals killed in police action since May last year was incorrectHazarika in his reply said 29 people have been killed and 96 others injured during the periodGogoi however argued that a count was being kept and the toll stood at 35The minister on his part noted that 75 have died in police action and two sustained injuries from 2016 to 2021To yet another question he said a total of 1628 Personal Security Officers PSOs are currently attached to 941 people -- 836 of them for 316 political leadersOf the 316 leaders 14 are from the BJP he saidActing on the chief ministers appeal to leaders to forego PSOs two BJP legislators Rupjyoti Kurmi and Paramananda Rajbongshi have given up their cover Hazarika saidLok Sabha MP Rajdeep Roy has also forsaken his PSO cover he maintainedThe chief minister himself has reduced his own security cover substantially bringing down the number of vehicles in his convoy from 20-25 to 6-7 the minister added PTI SSG RMS RMS