Families of three slain shooters from Baloth village in Rohtak district were shattered this morning after learning about their sons’ deaths in a police encounter from the village chowkidar. They claim they were unaware of any connection their sons had with any gang or gangster.
Police have not yet confirmed the ages of the deceased. However, families of two claim their sons were 17 years old, while the third was 22. One was a Class 12 student and a promising javelin thrower, another was a Class 10 student, and the third was a daily wage labourer.
The families of the deceased — Aryan, Ankit, and Nitin — were devastated upon receiving the news. They immediately rushed to Gurugram. There they came to know that police had shot dead four men in an encounter late at night and identified them as shooters belonging to the Deepak Nandal gang. However, the family members do not believe the police’s claim.
At the postmortem house in Gurugram, Pradeep, father of Aryan, said his son was a javelin thrower who had been training for two years and could throw 55-60 meters. He was a Class 12 student. “His bike had broken down two days ago. He went to the village bus stand to get it repaired. After that, there was no trace of him,” he said.
“On inquiry, we learned that my son had gone with Nitin. Aryan did not have a mobile phone, so we tried calling Nitin’s number, but it was switched off. The village sarpanch was informed by the SHO on Friday morning, and that is when I came to know about my son’s death in the encounter. My child should have been given a chance because children are easily misled. Action should be taken against gangsters, not against these innocent children,” Pradeep said.
Ankit’s father, Anil Kumar, said he works as a contractor at the Amul plant. His family includes his wife and four daughters. Ankit was the only son. “Ankit was not highly educated. He had dropped out after Class 8 and occasionally did odd jobs as a daily wage labourer,” he said.
“My son Ankit left home two days ago. He said he was going to Haridwar to bring back Kanwar water. I have no information about whom he went with. My son had no prior criminal record, nor had he ever been involved in any such incident. We knew nothing about this encounter. It was only when a police officer and the village chowkidar came to our home in the morning that they informed us. We came to Gurugram only after receiving this information,” Anil Kumar said.
The third deceased, Nitin, had a previous criminal record. His father, Sanjay Kumar, stated that Nitin was a Class 10 student.
“Nitin had left on a motorcycle with his friend Aryan the day before yesterday, and his phone has been switched off since. When the family went to the police station to file a missing person report, the police were insensitive. This morning, the village sarpanch informed us about Nitin’s death in the Gurugram encounter,” he said.
“My son Nitin had earlier been named in a police encounter case. At that time, out of fear, he fled home and came into contact with three miscreants at a hotel near the Delhi bypass. The police shot those three miscreants but not Nitin. The police pressured the family to make him a government witness, but we refused. My son did not know gangster Deepak Nandal,” Sanjay Kumar said.
The family members of the fourth deceased, Deepa alias Sandeep, could not be contacted. ACP Crime Naveen Sharma said that Sandeep had 14 cases registered against him for serious offenses, including violations of the Arms Act and the NDPS Act. He was originally from Samain village in the Tohana area of Fatehabad district. He had four brothers. One died in an accident some time ago, while the rest of the family continues to live in the village. Deepa had been residing in the Faridabad-Gurugram area for quite some time.