Patiala, January 29: The FIR registered by the Rajasthan Police following the encounter of Vicky Gounder and his accomplices suggests that the Punjab Police had a tip-off and it was only minutes before the encounter that they got confirmation that Gounder and Prema Lahoria were hiding inside Lakhwinder Singh’s house at Pakki village in Sriganganagar.
A Swift Dzire car with Haryana registration number parked outside the house had raised their suspicion as the police had an input that Gounder and his aides were seen in this car on January 21.
The FIR number 26, a copy of which is with The Tribune, was registered on the statement and questioning of Inspector Bikramjit Brar. It states that the police got a whiff about Gounder’s movement near Abohar and Fazilka along the Rajasthan border on January 21.
The FIR says Brar informed his seniors that Gounder was hiding somewhere in a dhaani (secluded house) at Pakki village, following which AIG Gurmeet Chauhan and AIG Sandeep Goel rushed to the village with additional force. The FIR, registered at Hindumalkot police station, names all 23 police officials who were part of the encounter team.
On January 26, the Punjab Police team laid a siege to the house around 6 pm. “Brar was the one who shouted at house occupants to surrender. However, three persons came out of the dhaani and started firing at the police and hid behind a parked school bus. The police again asked them to surrender, but one of them kept firing non-stop to provide cover to the other two.
The bullets injured cops Balwinder Singh and Kirpal Singh, following which the police fired in the air to scare them, but they continued firing,” reads the FIR registered under Sections 307, 332, 353, 186, 216, 225, 120-B IPC and Sections 25,27, 54, 59 of the Arms Act.It further reads: “When one of them tried to climb the wall and flee, the police team fired at him, following which he collapsed. The other two hiding behind the van kept firing at the police despite pleas to surrender.
In retaliatory firing, both were injured and apprehended.”The injured were Gounder and Sawinder Singh. While Gounder died minutes later, Sawinder was rushed to hospital where he too succumbed to his injuries.
The one who was shot dead near the wall was Prema Lahoriya.A top Punjab cop said: “A crucial operational detail missing from the FIR is that the police rounded up house owner Lakhwinder Singh from his fields around 5 pm, who then spilled the beans.”The Rajasthan police have taken all weapons used by the encounter team for forensic examination. “The Punjab cops had 9 mm pistols and AK 47 rifles,” it states.
Source Tribune India
