Inquiry report not filed in encounter

Investigations into the alleged fake encounter of Ramnarayan Gupta alias Lakhan Bhaiyya, for which ‘encounter specialist’ Pradeep Sharma has been arrested, has revealed that the police did not file the mandatory report ascertaining the authenticity of the encounter.

Investigations into the alleged fake encounter of Ramnarayan Gupta alias Lakhan Bhaiyya, for which ‘encounter specialist’ Pradeep Sharma has been arrested, has revealed that the police did not file the mandatory report ascertaining the authenticity of the encounter.

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The investigation report of the killing has to be submitted to the collector by the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) under whose jurisdiction the encounter takes place.

In this case, the report was not submitted. “Before the investigation could be completed, the deceased’s brother went to the high court and so the enquiry report couldn’t be submitted,” said a senior police officer.

Shyam Kumar Marwadi, the lawyer representing Lakhan’s brother Ramprasad Gupta, argued that the case was taken to court on November 15, 2006, four days after the encounter.

Then DCP of the area Vinay Chaube and Inspector Dattatrey Sankhe of Oshiwara police station refused to comment.

Fourteen policemen, including Sharma and Pradeep Suryavanshi [currently senior police inspector of MIDC police station], have been accused in the case.

Sources said in Lakhan’s case — the alleged Rajan aide was killed in an encounter at Versova in 2006 — the responsibility of submitting the report was with the Versova police.

The probe was transferred to the Oshiwara police because the investigating officer was transferred. The Oshiwara police recorded the statements of the officers involved in the encounter, witnesses and relatives of the deceased.