3 bullets fired at Bajrangi 15 mins after his death?
LUCKNOW, MEERUT: Discrepancies in two photographs of gangster Munna Bajrangi’s body, which went viral on social media after his killing inside Baghpat jail on Monday, raise fresh questions over the manner of his death.
The second picture bears three extra bullet marks, and forensic experts HT has spoken to say that it appears three bullets were fired at him from point blank range 15-20 minutes after his death.
The police, however, refuted the claims and said the investigation would clear all queries.
Questioned about the viral photographs, principal secretary, home and prisons, Arvind Kumar on Tuesday said a judicial as well as magisterial inquiry had been ordered into the killing.
“Detailed investigations and post-mortem report will clear all doubts and apprehensions. Stern action will be taken against jail staff or any other person if lapses or involvement in crime comes to light,” Kumar said, adding it would be probed as to how the photographs went viral.
Uttar Pradesh DGP OP Singh said there was no lapse on part of the police force in providing security to Bajrangi. He said adequate security was provided to Bajrangi while transferring him from Jhansi jail to Baghpat, and the transit time between the two locations was nearly 12 hours. Bajrangi was cremated at Manikarnika Ghat in Lucknow.
A forensic expert, earlier associated with the state forensic laboratory in Lucknow, said: “Blood will spill if it is circulating in the body (if the person is alive). No bleeding will occur if a bullet is shot into a dead body. Blackening seen around three wounds in the photographs suggests that bullets were fired from a close range after Bajrangi’s death.”
Another expert, who has taken part in many such investigations, said the first photograph with less bullet wounds was apparently clicked using a mobile phone after the gangster’s death. “However, the second photograph was apparently clicked after pumping three more bullets into the body around 15-20 minutes after the death. Blood circulation had stopped by that time,” he said.
Bajrangi’s lawyer Vikas Srivastava alleged that the difference in photographs hinted at the involvement of Baghpat jail personnel in the murder.
“The first photograph that got leaked from the jail suggests that the body had less bullet wounds while the second showed three more wounds on the body with blackening marks around it. Blood is not seen around these three wounds which suggests that these were post-mortem injuries,” he said.
Chief medical officer, Baghpat, Dr Sushma Chandra said the post-mortem report had been sent to the district magistrate and the superintendent of police.
At least nine bullet wounds were found on the body, a senior police officer said. One of the bullets, he said, dates back to a 1998 encounter with the special task force (STF) in Delhi.
“The doctors found nine bullet wounds on the body of which three were on the skull. All the bullets were fired from a close distance which pierced through his body,” the officer, who did not wish to be named, said.