'SI was shot with police revolver’

GULBARGA/ BANGALORE: The 9mm bullet that killed sub-inspector Mallikarjun Bande came from a police service revolver. The shot was fired by notorious contract killer Munna Darbadar . Investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) confirmed the police officer was killed by the gangster with a revolver belonging to Bande’s colleague.
Bande was killed on January 8, 2014, during a shootout.On that evening , Bande, attached to Station Bazaar in Gulbarga, had reached home when he got a message that Munna was hiding in his house.
Bande, who rushed out on hearing the message, did not carry his service pistol with him. The CID report stated that Bande and his colleagues, sub-inspectors Murali, Hemanth Kumar and assistant sub-inspector Udandappa reached Munna’s house. On seeing the approaching police team, Munna made a bid to escape but was shot in the leg.
Bullet in his leg, he somehow managed to escape, but left a trail of blood. The police team followed the stains to another house close by, and found the criminal hiding inside. As the team surrounded the house and closed in, Munna aimed his country-made revolver and shot Murali, who was in front, in his right arm. Writhing in pain, Murali confronted Munna, who snatched his pistol. As Murali shouted for help, Bande came forward and tried to shoot Munna who shot back with the police revolver. Bande fell, fatally injured.
The backup team of Hemanth and Udandappa swung in and shot Munna to death.
The CID report is in line with the earlier disclosure by additional DGP (law and order) MN Reddy, who conducted the preliminary investigation , and also confirmed his report .
Clinching proof
There were eight bullet impact marks inside the room where Munna was shot and killed by the officers who were behind Bande. One of the 9mm bullets of the eight shots fired was found inside the ballast of a fluorescent bulb (tube light), smeared with blood. The blood matched Bande’s blood and confirmed that the injuries which led to his death, were from a police firearm.
“The possibility is that Munna snatched Murali’s pistol and fired at Bande. The DNA test results on the blood samples found on the bullet, and Bande’s blood, pointed to this. There was no crossfire in which Bande was injured,” the report pointed out.
The report contains Murali’s statement, confirming Munna’s attack on him. The injury on Murali’s arm led to him losing his pistol, which was snatched up by Munna. He threatened Murali not come closer, but when Bande made a move to nab Munna, he suddenly shot at him with the firearm, which has a high-velocity bullet, pointed out a ballistic expert.
Encounter death had led to public furore Bande’s death while undergoing treatment at a Hyderabad hospital on January 13, led to a furore with the state government ordering a CID probe into the encounter death of the police officer. Later, the government had to shift Northeast range IGP Mohammed Wajeer Ahmed, who was present at the place during the shootout, as the public outcry over his death reached a high pitch. There were also allegations that there was no proper coordination between the senior officer and his subordinates. But there was no mention about any lack of coordination within the police force.
Who was Munna? Munna was reportedly accused of sheltering a suspect in the Muthoot Finance case, where Rs 1.6 crore was looted in September last year. The police team had gone to Munna’s house to question him in this connection. He was believed to be a sharpshooter and contract killer.
CID denies report A senior official said the CID has not submitted a report about the Bande case to the government. “We haven’t submitted any report regarding this yet,” additional DGP (CID) PK Garg said on Wednesday.