Killed youth's father demands CBI probe

The father of a 24-year old management graduate, allegedly killed by police in a fake gun battle, Sunday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the incident.

The family has alleged that Ranvir Singh, who had come to this Uttarakhand capital to take up an assignment with a financial firm, was gunned down by Dehradun police Friday in a stage-managed shootout.

Eyewitnesses told mediapersons that they saw Ranvir and his two companions on a motorbike having a scuffle with policemen in a crowded locality.

According to the Uttarakhand police, Ranvir was shot after a scuffle during which he allegedly snatched a police sub inspector's revolver, following which the police took him as a criminal on the run.

Clearly unimpressed by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal's decision to entrust the case to the state's Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Ranvir's father Ravindra Singh said that he was not satisfied with the government's declaration.

Ravindra has approached Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Raj Nath Singh, who is said to have assured him of putting in a strong word to Pokhriyal, who heads a BJP government.

Talking to reporters at Ranvir's cremation in his hometown of Baghpat in western Uttar Pradesh, Ravindra said: "I am aware that nothing can bring back my son, but what I wish to ensure is that no one else meets the same fate as my son. And for that it is extremely important that the cops guilty of gunning down my son in cold blood are booked for murder.

"No state agency would be in a position to carry out a free and fair investigation. Therefore, it would be in the fitness of things to entrust the case to the CBI," he said.

Last updated on Jul 5^th, 2009 at 16:43 pm IST--IANS