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Did Madhya Pradesh Police commit a
Sohrabuddin type encounter?
Four youth branded as dacoits gunned down
Bhopal, August 25 (Pervez Bari): Has the much talked about and being among the
top news headlines in the media the infamous Sohrabuddin encounter case of
Gujarat Police been copied and enacted by their counterparts in Madhya Pradesh?
It seems so that Madhya Pradesh Police following in the footsteps of the
Gujarat Police in terms of fake police encounters allegedly gunned down four
youth terming them as “dacoits” in Bhind district of the state on Sunday last.
The police allegedly hatching up a conspiracy planned to eliminate the four
youth branding them as “dacoits” in a fake encounter to earn laurels, medals
and promotions. After picking up the youth treacherously, the police made them
to put on the dresses of Army and police force to masquerading as dacoits and
then shot them in cold blood in a bid to gallop to fame and annex gallantry
medals and departmental promotions. There are many loopholes in the police
version of the encounter as the police has no satisfactory answers to many
gaping holes in its story of the incident.
Two of the killed youth were made to put on the Army’s camouflaged dresses
while the other two police uniforms which were not of their body sizes. One of
the youth was made to wear a very loose pair of trousers which was tightened
with the help of a belt tucked below the waist to hold on to the body.
It is interesting to note here that the so-called “encounter” which took place
under the Andori police station the Town Inspector, (TI), S. S. Sikarwar of
the police station was recruited as a constable and climbed the rungs of the
promotional ladder and reached the TI post after gunning down about 16 dacoits
over the years.
Media reports said that family members of one of the alleged bandit have
gathered courage to speak out about the fake encounter demanding registering
of murder case against the Bhind’s Superintendent of Police, (SP), Chanchal
Shekhar and his full team involved in the heinous crime. The family members of
Amjad Khan alias Fauji, resident of Kazian village, who was among the four
persons killed in the “encounter” have claimed that he was deceitfully picked
up from home and murdered. Amjad was an Army jawan till sometime back.
According to deceased Amjad’s wife he was taken away by police saying he is
being taken to mark his attendance in a case. However, it is learnt that with
the help of Amjad police picked up three other youth Raju Banjara, Udal Badhai
and Ravindra Udainia and then gunned down the four-some in alleged fake
encounter in the ravines of Aasan river near Baknasa village of Bhind district
under Andori police station.
Amjad’s family members charged that all the four youth were made to wear new
pair of shoes and then disembarking them in the ravines of Aasan river from
vehicles they were shot down from close range. Amjad’s wife says that her
husband never put on shoes without socks while the bodies of all the four
youth have shoes tucked without socks.
Amjad’s brother Firoz Khan, who is a constable in the Madhya Pradesh Police
and is posted in the University Road police station in Gwalior, has alleged
that policemen involved in the “encounter” have threatened him and his family
members with dire consequences. He fears for his life and safety of other
family members. He reportedly accused Sikarwar, the in-charge of Andori police
station, of threatening him. He said when he was waiting for Amjad’s body
outside the hospital in Gohad, Sikarwar used abusive language against him and
also pointed his service pistol towards him to brow beat him.
While Amjad’s father Basheer Khan claimed that Sikarwar had visited his house
on August 9 looking for Amjad. He said the policeman wanted Amjad to provide
information about two persons who were involved in a petrol pump loot case. He
said Amjad, who had only one case registered against him, was picked up from
his house on August 19 by the police. Amjad was betrayed by his own friend who
connived with the police and got him killed, Basheer added.
Meanwhile, Bhind SP Chanchal Shekhar has reportedly denied the charges hurled
at the police. He said that police had approached Firoz Khan on several
occasions in the past asking him to get his brother surrendered but the
exercise proved futile. Firoz used to claim that that he was not in touch with
his brother for last seven years and now when Amjad has been killed he is
making such wild allegations, Shekhar charged.
The Opposition Congress MLA Govind Singh in Bharatiya Janata Party ruled
Madhya Pradesh has also demanded a magisterial inquiry into the encounter
alleging that those killed were only petty criminals and not dacoits. (pervezbari@eth.net)
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