Three days after man was killed in ‘encounter’: Body cremated, kin want CBI probe, cops to be booked

Central Bureau of Investigation

ALLEGING that 25-year-old Sumit Gurjar was killed by the Gautam Budh Nagar Police in a fake encounter in Greater Noida on Tuesday night, members of the Gurjar community have held a mahapanchayat in the deceased’s native village of Chirchita in Baghpat, demanding that the CBI should probe the death and a murder case be lodged against the policemen.

The family, which has been staging a protest since Wednesday, conducted Sumit’s last rites on Friday evening, as the body had started to decompose.

While a mahapanchayat was organised at Chirchita to protest the killing on Thursday, Baghpat District Magistrate Bhawani Singh Khangarot and SP Jai Prakash had tried to convince the family to cremate the body and end the protest.

“I asked the family to submit an application seeking a CBI inquiry… I will forward it to the government. I also told them to submit an application mentioning their allegations and I would forward the same to the Gautam Budh Nagar Police. They had then refused… Now, I have come to know that the family has conducted the final rites. We have not promised anything to the protestors or the family,” said Khangarot.

Samajwadi Party leader Atul Pradhan, who had attended the mahapanchayat, said: “Since foul smell had started emanating from the body and there was a fear that infection will spread, we decided to cremate the body. From tomorrow, a protest will be held at the Collectorate in all districts in western UP, demanding a CBI probe and FIR against the policemen involved in the killing.”

While the family has alleged that police had picked up Sumit on September 30 and shot him dead on October 3, police records showed that on October 2, Sumit was accompanying three alleged members of the Gurjar gang, who were arrested by the Echotech 3 police in Gautam Budh Nagar for the suspected murder of two employees of liquor baron Ponty Chadha’s firm in September.

“Sumit managed to escape… Then, a letter requesting that an reward be announced on him was sent to senior officials,” said Echotech 3 police Station Officer K K Rana.

Following this, Meerut Range IG Ram Kumar announced a reward of Rs 50,000 on Sumit’s head on October 3. He was allegedly killed in an encounter the same night by Kasna police. “So far, we have found one case of double murder and dacoity against Sumit,” said Ram Kumar.

Sachin Gurjar said police had picked up Sumit, his cousin, on September 30 from Balani — around 10 km from Chirchita. “Locals informed us that four persons in a Bolero vehicle, carrying firearms, had picked up Sumit. We went to the local police station, which denied this. A day later, Noida Police reached our village… We again contacted the local police, which advised us to meet senior officers in Gautam Budh Nagar,” Sachin said.

“There, Echotech 3 police said that Sumit has been arrested and will be produced before a local court on October 3. As we returned home, we came to know through media Sumit has been killed in an encounter,” he added.

The police, however, claimed that on October 3, during a vehicle checking drive, a police team stopped a car in Kasna. “The occupants of the car opened fired, injuring Sub-Inspector Satish Chandra. The police team retaliated… while one occupant in the car was injured, three others fled. The injured was declared brought dead on arrival at the hospital. He was later identified as Sumit Gurjar,” said a police officer.