Nalasopara fake encounter: Bombay HC-appointed SIT nabs 2 constables

Slain criminal Joginder Ranarsquos brother Surendra has accused police of criminal intimidation implicating him in a fake murder attempt case and sending goons to his door over five years in an effort to get him to withdraw the criminal writ petition he had filed seeking justice in the 2018 encounter ldquoI was harassed by copsrdquo said Surendra after two Crime Branch cops Mangesh Chavan and Manoj Sakpal were arrested by the SITThe Special Investigation Team SIT sprang into action and arrested the two constables only after being criticised by the Bombay High Court on FridaySlain criminal Joginder Ranarsquos brother Surendra Rana Joginder Rana alias Govind Head constable Mangesh Chavan Police Naik Manoj SakpalldquoThis is just the beginning they were the small fries big fishes are still roaming scotfreehellipbut Irsquom thankful to the SIT who made headway unlike state CIDrdquo said SurendraldquoMy brother was killed in broad daylight in the presence of hundreds of people on a busy road in Nalasopara The then superintendent of Palghar police Manjunath Singe ordered to file a fake attempt to murder case against my brother It was all done to safeguard Local Crime Branch Unit 2rdquohe addedCrime Branch officer Chavan tied his shoelace by resting his foot on a temporsquos tyre next to the bodyAfter the alleged fake encounter Singe told media persons that Joginder stabbed Constable Mangesh in his stomach and injured Constable Manoj ldquoIn the preliminary investigation we have learned that Mangesh fired two bullets in selfdefence killing Joginderrdquo Singe told the media minutes after the alleged staged encounterBut Surendra said ldquoWhat preliminary investigation Singe was talking about My brother was not even carrying the knife It was all planted near the crime spot where both the rogue crime branch officers are seen talking over the phone having no injuries One of them is seen tying his shoelacerdquoNo blood stains were spotted on the knife which is alleged to be planted by the Crime Branch PicsHanif PatelldquoThe knife which was found at the murder spot was not even bloodstained This was also observed by the Bombay High Court The wounds on the bodies of Chavan and Sakpal were selfinflicted at a hospital in Nalasoparardquo he addedRana further accused Singe of protecting the lsquocriminals in khakirsquo who reportedly preplanned to kill Joginder was externed by Mumbai police over a decade agoldquoHow can a senior officer do so Why has no action been taken against Singe and other Crime Branch sleuths from local Crime Branch Unit 2 who were all handingloves to protect Chavan and Sakpalrdquo Surendra questionedWhen asked if the knife was bloodstained at the crime site Singe said ldquoI am not able to recollect the details It is an old caserdquo There were at least 50 cases registered against Joginder at various police stations ldquoEven if my brother was a criminal the cops had no right to eliminate himrdquo said SurendralsquoTactics to withdraw petitionrsquoSurendra alleged that the Local Crime Branch officials were shaken after he started to send complaint letters to all the higherups at the DGP office and Mantralaya to seek justice He accused Crime Branch officials of sending 19 goons at his doorstep following which he filed a case at Tulinj police station on August 25 2018Surendra further alleged that Chavan and Sakpal were never transferred from the Nalasopara area ldquoEven after Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar police commissionerate was formed these two constables were never transferred despite I filed a writ petition They are very powerful policemen who are being protected by their higherupsrdquo he allegedldquoLast year I was falsely implicated in an attempt to murder case registeredrdquo said Surendra who approached the court to get his name removed from the attempt to murder caseldquoThe victim in his statement said that I did not assault himhellip So my name was removedrdquo he addedlsquoBike misplaced by copsrsquoIt was Gudi Padwa festival on July 23 2018 when Joginder was killed in an alleged fake encounter According to his brother he was getting his bikersquos engine oil changed at a mechanic on Tulinj Road ldquoBoth the cops Chavan and Sakpal reached there and started demanding money from my brother who was standing with his friend Sachin Nair After my brother said he cant give him money Chavan had a heated argument with my brother and later they indulged in a fisticuffrdquo said SurendraldquoUpset with this the police started chasing my brother After chasing Joginder for nearly 300 metres Chavan fired the first bullet puncturing his backhellipwhen he fell Chavan shot him in the chest from a close range This all happened at 230 pm when hundreds of people were witnessesrdquo he addedldquoThe cops also told the shopkeepers to format the CCTV cameras installed in the nearby vicinityrdquo he addedldquoBut the SIT retrieved the dumb data identified nearly three dozen people and called them to record their statement as witnesses in the caserdquo he addedldquoAfter my brother was killed the cops conducted a panchnama made entry of my brotherrsquos bike which is now missing I searched everywhere but itrsquos not found yet So finally I had to file an FIR in this connection but it is yet to be found It was evidence in the fake encounter casehellipbut the cops destroyed itrdquo he addedSurendra further added that the state CID was immediately handed over the case to probe into the matter but the investigating team kept on investigating the false attempt to murder case filed against his brother230pmTime of encounter in 2018