The spot where the encounter happened near Naina Devi Temple in Bilaspur. (Express archives)
Questions have arisen about an armed individual not from the police force who accompanied the Mohali police team that went to Naina Devi in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh on a car chase that ended in the killing of Sunny Masih, an alleged carjacker. The weapon used in the shooting was registered in this person’s name.
According to the Himachal Pradesh Police who are investigating the case, it was not a police revolver that was used to gun down Sunny. The weapon is registered in the name of Lakhvir Singh, said to be a “friend” of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Ramandeep Singh.
It was in Lakhvir Singh’s Toyota Innova that Ramadeep Singh and then CIA in-charge, Inspector Tarlochan Singh, both off duty when they got information about a carjacking at gunpoint in their area, gave chase to the stolen Verna all the way to Naina Devi. Lakhvir Singh was driving.
“If the policemen, including the DSP and SHO, were on official duty chasing the snatched car, then why did they come in a private vehicle and how were the shots fired from a private pistol, both of which belonged to a private person namely Lakhbir Singh, who was accompanying the policemen,” asked Paul Sandhu, uncle of Sunny. Sandhu described the entire episode as a “pre-planned murder”.
Lakhvir lives in Anand Nagar, Kharar. He is a farmer. Though it is highly unusual for police to use a private citizen’s car to chase down suspected criminals, it is even more unusual that the owner drives them and is armed himself.
DSP Ramandeep Singh said he took Lakhvir Singh along as his vehicle was going to be faster than the police Bolero at his disposal. Ramandeep told journalists at the site of the encounter that he and Tarlochan called Lakhvir to the site of the carjacking, because “he drives very fast” and they need to chase the suspected criminals who had driven away in the stolen car.
As for how Lakhvir’s weapon came to be used, DSP Ramandeep Singh made an even more unusual statement. He told the police at Naina Devi that he had a scuffle with Sunny Masih during which his own police weapon fell under a vehicle and he took the pistol from Lakhvir Singh and fired at Sunny in self-defence due to which Sunny was killed while his two accomplices Goldy Masih and Amarpreet were arrested.
The HP police officials investigating the case said they were yet to receive the licence of the weapon used in the encounter. Lakhvir was not carrying the license with him even though it is mandatory for private individuals carrying weapons.
Speaking to Chandigarh Newsline, Bilaspur Superintendent of Police (SP) Ashok Sharma said investigation is going on and they were probing all the angles. He added that a judicial inquiry was also ordered into the incident and they will proceed with whatever will be the findings of the inquiry.
Mohali SSP Kuldeep Singh Chahal said a magisterial inquiry was underway and everything would soon become clear.