Brother claims it is cold-blooded murder

Mumbai, Nov 13 (UNI) Ramnarayan Gupta's death in an encounter on Saturday was a clear case of cold-blooded murder said his younger brother advocate Ramprasad Gupta here today.

Gupta, while addressing mediapersons, has sought protection for Anil Bheda, a friend of the deceased, who was also picked up by the police on that day.

Police suspect that Ramnarayan Gupta was a sharpshooter of the Chhota Rajan Gang.

Gupta said he had submitted a letter to Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh demanding the suspension of police officers involved in the ''fake'' encounter of his brother and wanted Deshmukh to save Bheda's life.

Gupta alleged that the police's claims of killing his brother in a retaliatory attempt after his brother fired two rounds at them when he had gone to meet his informer near Nana Nani park was concocted.

In fact, Gupta said his brother was picked up at about 1300 hrs on Saturday, while he was standing in front of a mobile shop in Vashi along with his friend Anil Bheda. The shop owner immediately intimated about the incident to Bheda's wife who, in turn, informed his family.

''Later, we sent a telegram and a fax to the superior police authority and Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil after 1600 hrs informing about the incident,'' Gupta said.

The same night, he said, he learnt about his brother's ''fake'' encounter from television channels and went along with another advocate friend to the spot of encounter.

Gupta claimed that his brother was in no way connected with Chhota Rajan or any other gang and had no case pending against him in any court. He was an estate agent by profession.

He also demanded the suspension of guilty police officers and necessary steps to direct narco analysis test of all the police officers concerned, who participate in this ''fake'' encounter.

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