Anger, disbelief in Ghaziabad home after youth's death

The family of Ranvir Singh, the Ghaziabad youth who was shot dead by police in Dehradun, Saturday said he was innocent and denied he had any criminal background.

"My son was totally innocent. He had gone to Dehradun to join his new job July 5. How could he be linked to crime as stated by police?" Ranvir's mother asked at their Indirapuram home here.

Ranvir, 23, was killed Friday in Uttarakhand following a scuffle, police say. He and two others were astride a motorcycle and sped away after snatching a policeman's service revolver, police say. When they were spotted again and asked to surrender, they opened fire following which the cops retaliated, leaving him dead, police say.

But the family denies that Ranvir had any criminal record. "There was not a single case against him anywhere. His college and school can be asked about his conduct. The bike the police showed he was driving was also not his," a family member said.

Relatives at his 532, Neetikhand-III home showed utter disbelief over Ranvir's death. Ghaziabad MP and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajnath Singh's son Neeraj Singh and local legislator Sunil Kumar Sharma also came to meet the family.

The angry family members expressed their grief and demanded the dismissal of all police officials responsible for Ranvir's killing.

The family has submitted a complaint to the Indirapuram police station to register a murder case against the guilty police officials. The complaint was sent to Ghaziabad SSP Akhil Kumar to be forwarded to Dehradun police.

Last updated on Jul 4^th, 2009 at 17:49 pm IST--IANS