The family of teenager Karan Pandey, who was allegedly part of a group of motorcyclists performing dangerous stunts near Windsor Lane and was killed in police firing, claimed that he had gone to sleep in his room in their Malviya Nagar house around midnight on Saturday and they had no clue how he ended up being at the spot.
“Karan and his mother Manju Pandey went to sleep around midnight on Saturday in separate rooms. Manju, before going to bed, had locked the main entrance to the house from inside. She got to know about the incident on Sunday morning when a police team reached her house around 6 a.m. and told her that Karan had met with an accident. A bewildered Manju went to Karan’s room and did not find him there. The lock at the main door was also intact. It was only after she reached the police station that they told her about Karan’s death,” said Karan’s maternal uncle Manoj Kumar, who works as a carpenter.
Casting aspersions on the police version that Karan was with his friend Punit doing motorcycle stunts when he was killed, Manoj said that his sister had a dispute with her tenants in Uttam Nagar and probably Karan was kidnapped and shot dead as part of a conspiracy.
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Karan, who had turned 18 this June, had quit regular studies after he did not fare well in Class XI exams and was pursuing further education through Open School. He had also enrolled for a computer course. His parents were separated 3-4 years ago and Karan was staying with his mother in Kichripur Extension in Malviya Nagar, while his father lives in Laxmi Nagar and has not been in touch with them.
According to Karan’s aunt Renu, the teenager was a shy person and did not have many friends. “He was no different from the boys of his age. He preferred to stay at home and helped his mother in daily chores. Manju also made it a point to never leave him at home alone overnight. None of his friends ever visited him at home. He was a non-smoker and teetotaller. We never heard about Punit from him,” said Karan’s aunt Renu, who got the news of his death from Manju over phone around 8 a.m.
Renu also claimed that Karan did not know how to drive a two-wheeler and did not have a motorcycle. The family owned a car and there was no need for Karan to go to Connaught Place on a motorcycle as claimed by the police, Renu argued.
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Karan’s family accused the police of high-handedness and of not even allowing them to see his body till late on Sunday afternoon. “They have not even provided us a copy of the First Information Report so far and not allowed us to speak to the family of Punit, who was driving the motorcycle when the incident took place,” alleged Manoj.
Karan’s family and some media persons also had a minor clash with the security staff of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for allegedly not allowing Punit’s family to speak to them.