Did the police in Dehradun gun down a 22-year-old man because he was a gangster? Were the police over jealous in taking on someone who wasn't really a danger? Or was this an out and out fake encounter?
Ranbir had gone to Dehradun to join his new job. He was travelling with two friends on a motorcycle when the police stopped him at a check post. This is where the trouble started. The state police alleges that the three men argued and had a scuffle with a sub-inspector. They then fled after snatching his service revolver into a nearby forest.
The police chased them and then Ranbir was gunned down. His friends managed to escape.
"There were three men, two managed to flee. The one firing at the police was shot at in retaliation," said Amit Sinha, Senior Superintendent of Police, Dehradun.
"Two of them ran together from a different route and one of them fired at us. Ranbir got killed in retaliation from our side," he added.
In Ghaziabad, a Delhi suburb, Ranbir's family insists that their son was killed in cold blood. On Saturday morning, they got into a fight with local police. They allege that Ramnbir had no criminal record and that this is case of fake encounter.
"Ask the police if he was reported in any police station. There was no complaint filed against him. In fact this was the first time he had come to Dehradun. But now he will never return," said Ranbir's father Ravindra Singh.
The Dehradun state police had stepped up the security ahead of President Pratibha Patil's visit. They now claim that Ranbir's friends had criminal records.
"They were using a stolen bike. There is no criminal record against him but the people he was with were engaged in criminal activities," said SSP Amir Sinha.
The chief minister has ordered a magisterial enquiry into the matter and the post-mortem report is awaited. But now the case is taking on political hues. The Jat Mahasabha has now aligned itself with the family and is threatening an agitation if the case is not resolved.
