Mumbai, January 8
Former encounter specialist of Mumbai police Pradeep Sharma was today remanded in police custody till January 14 along with five others, including two constables, in a “fake” encounter case.
Metropolitan Magistrate R A Sheikh remanded inspector Sharma, a 1984 batch officer, constables Ratnakar Kamble and Tanaji Desai, besides alleged informers Aquil, alias Bobby, Hitesh Solanki and Shailendra Pandey on an application by the Mumbai police for custodial interrogation.
While Sharma and the constables were arrested by a Special Investigating Team (SIT) headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police M M Prasanna late last night, the informers were picked up early this morning.
The case relates to the killing of gangster Ramnarayan Gupta, alias Lakhan Bhaiyya, a close associate of underworld don Chhota Rajan's aide D K Rao, on November 11, 2006, near Nana-Nani park in suburban Versova.
According to petitioner Ramprasad Gupta, his brother Ramnarayan was killed by Inspector Pradeep Suryawanshi of the D N Nagar police station in a staged encounter. It is alleged that Suryawanshi was acting at the behest of Sharma.
Following the petition, the High Court had ordered an inquiry to be conducted by the magistrate of the Andheri court R A Sheikh.
Subsequently, the court
ordered a probe by the SIT after it transpired that the accused policemen were attempting to influence the inquiry by threatening the magistrate and others.
Investigations revealed that Sharma had amassed huge amounts of unaccounted wealth and was running several businesses in the names of his wife and others. He was suspended from service in 2008 and subsequently sacked. Sharma was also arrested in connection with the case and had spent several months in jail.
Later on Sharma challenged his sacking before the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal, which ordered his reinstatement. However, the state government was yet to reinstate Sharma.
