‘Didn’t trust the police’

Brother of Ramnarayan Gupta alias Lakhan Bhaiya, who was killed in an alleged fake encounter in 2006, told the trial court on Friday that he refrained from submitting the original copies of several documents relating to the case, as he did not have faith in the police.

Brother of Ramnarayan Gupta alias Lakhan Bhaiya, who was killed in an alleged fake encounter in 2006, told the trial court on Friday that he refrained from submitting the original copies of several documents relating to the case, as he did not have faith in the police.

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Ramprasad Gupta, the complainant and first prosecution witness continued to depose before the sessions court on Friday. Recounting the series of incidents, he said: “I did not have faith in the police at the time. Later, I submitted the documents to them [the police] when the first information report (FIR) was lodged,” said Ramprasad. These documents were certified originals.

Ramprasad claimed this after the defense lawyers argued that these documents were not admissible in court as they were not original or certified copies. These documents include receipts of telegrams that Ramprasad sent to the police commissioner's office on the day Lakhan Bhaiya was killed, where he (Ramprasad) had sought their help.

On January 8, a special investigation team formed by the high court to probe the case arrested the main accused, police officer Pradeep Sharma. On March 4, the team arrested senior inspector Pradeep Suryawanshi, who allegedly led the team of police officers for the encounter.