Encounter cop behind kidnap

MUMBAI: Dismissed cop and encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma played a key role in the kidnapping of Ramnarayan Gupta, a criminal from Vashi, who was later shot by police in a fake encounter.
That was what deputy police commissioner K M M Prasanna, who heads the special investigating team probing the encounter, told Andheri metropolitan court on Friday. Sharma, police constables Tanaji Desai and Ratnakar Kamble and police informers Akhil Khan, Hitesh Solanki and Shailendra were remanded in police custody till January 14 by magistrate R K Shaikh.
Gupta, a criminal involved in several cases of murder and robbery, was picked up on November 11, 2006, from Vashi at 1 pm and brought near the Nana Nani Park in Versova where he was shot by the D N Nagar police.The police stand was that inspector Pradeep Suryavanshi, after receiving information of Gupta’s arrival, went to the park with a team of officers and asked Gupta to surrender. The police claimed that Gupta fired, and Suryavanshi and his team retaliated, resulting in the criminal’s death. Suryavanshi, currently senior inspector at MIDC police station, was not present at the court, being on sick leave.
The SIT said that the vehicle used for bringing Gupta to Versova — a rickshaw — was yet to be recovered. Prasanna, who argued the case himself and said that Sharma’s associates had kidnapped Gupta, declared, ‘‘As of now we are concentrating on the kidnapping aspect of the case. Later we will focus on Sharma’s role in the murder.’’ All the arrested accused have been booked for kidnapping and murder.
Magistrate Shaikh had conducted a probe and concluded that Gupta was in police custody when he was shot. The probe was carried out on the directions of the Bombay high court after Gupta’s brother, Ramprasad, filed a writ stating that his brother had been killed in a fake encounter.
On Friday, a huge crowd gathered in the court to extend moral support to Sharma.