Uttarakhand fake encounter: Court records loopholes in cops' version

Uttarakhand Police claimed that it was a special operation involving cops from different police stations in which a MBA student was gunned down but the common thread between them was not revealed, said a court in Delhi on Monday while rejecting their theory of encounter killing.

Uttarakhand Police claimed that it was a special operation involving cops from different police stations in which a MBA student was gunned down but the common thread between them was not revealed, said a court in Delhi on Monday while rejecting their theory of encounter killing.

File-photo-of-the-Dehradun-MBA-student-Ranbir-Singh-who-was-allegedly-gunned-down-by-Uttarakhand-police-July-3-2009-HT-Photo

The court noted that personnel from two police stations and a special operation group were involved in the incident while the policeman of the Raipur police station in Dehradun was kept away from the encounter, where the incident took place.

"The place of incident in Ladpur is within jurisdiction of police station Raipur, Dehradun. Dehradun is a small city compared to Metro cities.

"The President of India is visiting the city on July 3, 2009. The city is on high alert, but the policeman of police station Raipur are nowhere," the court noted, while awarding life term to the 17 Uttarakhand policeman involved in the fake encounter of a MBA student.

The convicts during the trial had claimed that the victim Ranbir Singh along with his accomplishes Shekhar Tyagi, Ashok Panwar and Ram Kumar had entered into a conspiracy to commit a theft at the house in Dehradun.

It was claimed by police that Ranbir was caught on the spot while his associate ran away. However, Ranbir snatched the pistol of Sub-inspector G D Bhatt, who had caught hold of him.

On being chased by police, Ranbir opened fire and was killed in the cross firing in Ladpur jungles.