Court Directs UP Cops To Probe Alleged Fake Encounter Of Agnipath Aspirant

A court here has directed the Agra police to investigate allegations of the mother of 20-year-old youth that he was killed in a fake encounter while he was coming to the city to prepare for the Agnipath recruitment test, her lawyer claimed here on Sunday.

"The court of chief judicial magistrate in Agra has directed Agra police to lodge a complaint. It has also directed Commissioner of Agra Police to set up an independent investigation agency in this regard" Bhartendra Singh, the lawyer of the victim's mother, said.

Asked about it, Sonam Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West), told PTI, "FIR has not been registered yet. Prima facie, it was not a fake encounter. We will take legal advice in this case and act accordingly."

Mr Singh said that the victim, Akash Gurjar, was a resident of Gadhora in the Morena district of Madhya Pradesh. He was an Agnipath aspirant and on the evening of September 26, 2022, he left home to stay with his brother Vishnu who works at the Central Ordnance Depot in Agra, the lawyer said. But on September 27 the family members were informed by Iradatnagar Police in Agra that he had been killed in an encounter.

"The postmortem report suggests that Akash was shot at from a close range. In FIRs, police claimed that he had left the tractor and tried to flee while firing at them. But, pictures from the crime scene clearly show blood on both sides of the tractor driver's seat," he alleged.

He said the court order came recently on the plea of Mamta Devi, the mother of the victim.

She claimed that her son was coming to Agra by bus and when he got down to go to the toilet, he was abducted by the policeman and shot dead.

"My son even didn't know to drive a tractor. He had passed Class 12 and was preparing for Army exams," she told reporters.

Initially, he was treated in Agra and later he was shifted to King George's Medical University (KGMU) in Lucknow for treatment, she added.

"During treatment, my son informed me about the incident and said that he was innocent," Mamta claimed.

Akash died on November 13 in KGMU during treatment, she said.

"I want justice... action against those who were involved in the fake encounter of my son," she added.

Police had claimed that Akash was involved in illegal sand mining. Two FIRs were also registered at the Iradatnagar Police Station in Agra in this regard.

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