Families of three youths killed in the Gurugram police encounter on Thursday night have rejected the police claim that their sons were associated with the Deepak Nandal gang, saying they were unaware of any criminal links and learnt about their deaths only on Friday morning through the village chowkidar.

The three deceased — Aryan, Ankit and Nitin — belonged to Baloth village in Rohtak district. While the police are yet to confirm their ages, the families of Aryan and Ankit claimed they were 17 years old, while Nitin was 22. Aryan was a Class XII student and an aspiring javelin thrower, Ankit worked as a daily-wage labourer after dropping out of school, and Nitin was studying in Class X, according to their families.

After getting information from local authorities, the families rushed to Gurugram, where they were informed that the four men killed in the encounter had been identified by police as shooters of the Deepak Nandal gang. However, the relatives disputed the claim.

At the post-mortem house, Aryan’s father, Pradeep, said his son had been training in javelin throw for the past two years.

“Upon inquiry, it was learned that my son had gone with Nitin. Aryan did not have a mobile phone, so attempts were made to call Nitin’s number, but the phone remained switched off. The village sarpanch was informed by the SHO on Friday morning and then I got to know about the death of my son in the encounter. My child should have been given a chance because children are easily led astray. Therefore, action should be taken against the gangsters, not against these innocent children,” he said.

Ankit’s father, Anil Kumar, a contractor, said Ankit was his only son among five children.

“My son Ankit had left home two days ago. He had told that he was going to Haridwar to fetch the ‘kanwar’. I have no information about whom he was going with. My son had no prior criminal record, nor had he ever been involved in any such incident,” he said.

Nitin’s father, Sanjay Kumar, said his son had previously been named in a criminal case but denied any association with gangster Deepak Nandal.

The family of the fourth deceased, Deepa alias Sandeep, could not be contacted. ACP (Crime) Naveen Sharma said Sandeep, a native of Samain village in Fatehabad district, had 14 criminal cases registered against him, including under the Arms Act and the NDPS Act, and had been living in the Faridabad-Gurugram area for some time.