'Rahul Raj wasn't shot point-blank'

PrafullaMarpakwar | tnnMumbai: Grant Medical College personnel have toldchief secretary Johny Joseph that prima facie, it looked like Patna youth RahulRaj, who was killed in a police encounter inside a BEST bus on October 27, wasnot shot at point-blank range, that is from a distance less than 5cm.Joseph on Thursday visited the forensic science department of JJHospital to study Rahul Raj's post-mortem report. Following a directive from thePMO, chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has appointed Joseph to investigate thedeath of Rahul Raj.Accompanied by senior IAS officer Sudhir Thakreand additional commissioner of police Sadanand Date, Joseph had a longdiscussion with a forensic science team, led by professor and head of thedepartment S B Nanandkar. The entire meeting was about whether Rahul Raj waskilled at a point-blank range or not. A day after the post-mortem, a seniordoctor had said there was a dark mark around the bullet injury on the face. Anexpert had then added that the darkening usually appeared when a bullet wasfired at a close range, causing gunpowder to burn and darken the skin around thewound. Such marks appeared when a shot was fired from less than 2 ft away, ithad been stated.The officials explained to Joseph at length thetechnical aspects of the post-mortem, particularly what is meant by killing aperson at point-blank range and how to calculate distance on the basis of theinjuries on the body. In medical parlance, if a person is killed from a distnaceless than 5 cm, then it is described as point-blank range. "From the post-mortemreport, prima facie, it appears that Rahul Raj was not killed at point-blankrange,'' a GMC professor said.The earlier disclosure by a medicalteacher had invited criticism from across the country, particularly the northernstates. Not only the deceased father, but also Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumarhad demanded a judicial probe into the death of Rahul Raj. Subsequently, JJHospital had withdrawn the earlier statement, saying it was issuedinadvertently.Joseph personally saw the entire video of the autopsyof Rahul Raj as well as that of Dharmadev Rai from Uttar Pradesh, who waslynched on a local train on October 28.A week ago, Joseph hadvisited the spot on Kurla-Andheri Road, where Rahul Raj was killed in theencounter. Joseph is expected to submit his report to Deshmukh within amonth.