‘Told us they’d question him, send him back’: Mother of teen killed in encounter

Gurdaspur: The family of Ranjit Singh (19), who was shot dead in a police encounter for his alleged role in the killing of two policemen in Gurdaspur's Adhian village on Saturday night, has claimed that the youth was innocent and has accused police of concocting a story over how he was killed in an encounter on Tuesday.She claimed that Ranjit was made a scapegoat as police were under pressure from the media, govt, and their seniors to solve the case. On Wednesday, his wailing mother, Sukhwinder Kaur, questioned the police narrative, saying if her son had been involved in any crime, he would not have continued living in the village and would have fled instead. "When police came to take my son around 4pm on Tuesday, they said they only wanted to ask him a few questions and would send him back," she said, while mourning the loss of her only child and demaning justice, evidence and answers.
Harwinder Singh, an uncle (taya) of the slain youth, alleged that the family received a phone call around 1.30 am on Wednesday, asking them to come to the police station to take Ranjit home. Believing it was late at night, the family decided to go early in the morning. However, before they could leave, they saw news circulating on social media that Ranjit had been killed in a police encounter.He said Ranjit was a first-year graduate student with dreams of a future. His father, Bikramjit Singh, works as a driver in Saudi Arabia. "The police story is unbelievable, and we demand the highest-level probe to bring out the truth," he said.Harwinder added that he himself had provided CCTV footage from cameras installed at his farmhouse, capturing the Saturday night killing of two policemen. The footage shows a few men on a motorcycle taking a U-turn, and the sound of six gunshots can be clearly heard. "We have been fully cooperating with the police," he said.He alleged that on Tuesday night, police collected all DVRs from the village, raising further suspicion among residents.Ranjit's mother said that on Saturday returned home at around 10.30 pm with some relatives and told her he will be going to Dilawar's village at Ali Nangal for a party and had stayed at his home. She said she later called him, after which he returned at 6.30 am and remained at home. Breaking down, Sukhwinder demanded answers: "We need justice. Give us evidence. Why did they take him to the police station when they had already questioned him at home? How could the police kill my son? What was his offence?"