Manoj Vashisht case: Cops transferred as Bassi orders probe into encounter
The decision was taken after Vashisht's widow Priyanka and other family members met Bassi and demanded a fair probe into the case. Vashisht's family has alleged that he was killed in a 'fake' encounter.
Delhi Police commissioner B.S. Bassi on Tuesday initiated a separate vigilance inquiry into the 'encounter' killing of Manoj Vashisht and decided to transfer some of the police personnel who were involved in the incident.
This is the third inquiry ordered in the case. The decision was taken after Vashisht's widow Priyanka and other family members met Bassi and demanded a fair probe into the case. Vashisht's family has alleged that he was killed in a 'fake' encounter.
The family members met Bassi at his office at the Delhi Police Headquarters here on Tuesday morning. The police commissioner assured them of an impartial investigation into the case, a Delhi Police official said.
On being demanded by the family, police personnel involved in the 'encounter' were transferred to ensure a fair probe. However, Bassi did not provide details about the police personnel who have been transferred.
Vashisht, who was wanted in several cases of fraud and other crimes, was hit by a bullet in the gun fight with an eight-member team of the Special Cell of Delhi Police on Saturday evening at a restaurant.
Meanwhile, Vashisht's family claimed that according to a Delhi Police document which was submitted before a local court on May 5 in connection with an anticipatory bail plea, the Special Cell was not investigating into any case involving Vashisht, and that there was no need to question him. His family is now questioning as to what prompted the Special Cell to gun down Vashisht within 10 days of submitting that reply before the court.
On Monday, CCTV footage of the 'encounter' was released which showed that the police got involved in a scuffle with Vashisht before he was shot dead. The quality of the CCTV is not good and it doesn't establish the police's claim that Vashisht had first fired shots at the Special Cell sleuths.
The 29-second CCTV footage, which is quite grainy, shows two policemen in plain clothes walking up to Vashisht at 8:15 pm in Sagar Ratna restaurant in New Rajender Nagar. Vashisht is seen sitting in the middle of the restaurant with several people. As soon as Vashisht sees the police, a scuffle breaks out and the policemen are seen trying to pin him down. However, the firing of the shots cannot be seen or heard. Vashisht is seen collapsing on the ground while other guests of the restaurant try to run away.
Meanwhile, a preliminary postmortem report of Vashisht revealed that he died of the bullet which hit him in the head. Police had claimed that seeing him firing shots from his licensed revolver, a constable shot him in a bid to incapacitate him. But it led to his death.