While the family of Jhansi resident Pushpendra Yadav has alleged that he was killed in a staged encounter, the police version has come under further question after conflicting statements were issued by two district police officers.
According to the statement by Jhansi Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Om Prakash Singh, on October 5, the night of the incident, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Moth, Dharmendra Singh Chauhan, was returning to Jhansi from Kanpur in his private car after a two-day leave, when he received a call from a local, purportedly Pushpendra. The person on the other end of the phone asked him to meet him at an intersection, said the SSP.
Mr. Chauhan was “alone” and in plainclothes, said the SSP, adding that as soon as the SHO stopped his car and rolled down the window to look around, the accused fired at him.
Doesn’t tally
The SHO’s description of the incident, however, does not tally with this. Talking to the media from his hospital bed, where he is recovering from injuries allegedly suffered during the encounter, Mr. Chauhan says he had gone out from his police station for patrolling and checking duty on the night of the incident. He said he was accompanied by a constable, Saurabh, and both of them were in a private car. “At the Bamrauli intersection around 9 p.m., a person waved [at us] and I stopped the car. He came close and pulled out his country pistol and fired,” said Mr. Chauhan, not mentioning any phone calls.
When asked if he was returning from his leave, as stated by the SSP, the SHO said he had returned from leave the same day and gone out for patrolling. The SHO claimed the accused shot and fled with his mobile phone and vehicle.
Additional Director General of Police-Law and Order P.V. Ramasastry said the allegations levelled by the family of the deceased will be included in the investigation of the alleged encounter. A magisterial probe has been ordered to probe the incident.
Mr. Ramasastry said the post mortem done on the body would also be a part of the investigation, but when asked if the SHO was on duty during the incident, he ducked the question.
