Uttarakhand govt recommends CBI inquiry into fake encounter case

NEW DELHI: Bowing to mounting public pressure, the Uttarakhand government on Wednesday asked the Centre to initiate a CBI probe into the killing of Ranvir Singh, an MBA graduate, in an alleged fake encounter in Dehradun last week.
���A CBI probe into Ranbir Singh encounter case has been recommended,��� chief secretary IK Pande said. There has been a public outcry over the killing and doubts have been raised about the impartiality of a probe being conducted by the state police.

���The state government wants a transparent probe. Keeping in mind the feelings of Ranvir Singh's parents, we have recommended to the Centre that it order a CBI investigation into the case,��� chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said. Mr Pokhriyal, who has recently taken over charge of the state said, ���anyone found guilty will not be spared���.
Additional secretary for home Bhaskaranand said that even if the Centre accepts the recommendation for a CBI probe, the CB-CID will continue its investigation in the case. In a bid to ensure that the probe is not "influenced", the Dehradun superintendent of police has been removed.

and six other policemen shifted to police lines.

Earlier, the state government had handed over the probe to CB-CID. Last Friday, 22-year-old Ranvir Singh from Ghaziabad was gunned down by Uttarakhand police after he allegedly fled with a revolver of a sub-inspector when stopped by police during checking.

With the autopsy report revealing that Singh was shot from close range and may have been tortured prior to the shooting, the state government came under intense pressure Singh���s family, the Congress as well as leaders of BJP and RLD to seek a CBI probe. A case of murder has already been registered against 14 police officials.
The National Human Rights Commission had also demanded a CBI probe into the incident.