Magisterial probe set to gain speed
The magisterial inquiry into the police encounter on June 24, in which Anandpal Singh was killed, will gain speed after the gangster’s cremation in his native village Sanvrad in Nagaur district on Thursday evening.
The Churu district collector ordered a magisterial inquiry on June 26 into the encounter that took place in Malasar village on the Ratangarh-Sardarshahr highway. Churu’s additional district magistrate (ADM) Rajpal Singh is conducting the inquiry.
The ADM said he had visited the spot four times and recorded the statement of the owner of the house where the exchange of fire took place on June 24.
“I have recorded statements of Shrawan Singh and five other members of his family, and will soon record the statement of the injured Rajasthan Police commando, Sohan Singh,” he said.
Sohan Singh is getting treatment at Gurgaon’s Medanta Hospital.
The magisterial inquiry was ordered as per the Supreme Court and National Human Rights Commission guidelines on police encounters. The inquiry is to be completed in two months.
The ADM said he also planned to record statements of Anandpal’s family members but was waiting for the cremation to take place. The inquiry, he said, will gain speed after the gangster was cremated on Thursday evening, 19 days after he was killed.
According to the guidelines, the magistrate probing police encounters is to identify independent witnesses. Statements of the doctors who conducted the two post-mortems will also be recorded for the inquiry.
The gangster’s family and Rajput leaders have been demanding a CBI probe into the encounter alleging that it was staged and Anandpal was killed in cold blood.