Controversial encounter specialist of Mumbai police Pradeep Sharma and five others were on Thursday remanded in judicial custody till January 27 in an alleged fake encounter case.
The Andheri metropolitan magistrate directed Thane central prison authorities to lodge Sharma in a separate cell and make arrangements to ensure his safety. The direction came after Sharma's lawyer Shrikant Shivade requested the court not to take him to a jail where several gangsters are lodged, fearing threat to his life.
"Sharma is an encounter specialist who has eliminated several notorious gangsters and their members. If Sharma is kept in a prison with dreaded criminals then there is a chance that he would be attacked," Shivade said.
The 1984 batch IPS officer, constables Ratnakar Kamble and Tanaji Desai and three others were arrested on January 7 for allegedly killing Ramnarayan Gupta alias Lakhan Bhaiyya, an alleged associate of gangster D K Rao, on November 11, 2006 in suburban Versova.
They were also remanded in judicial custody along with Sharma. Lakhan's advocate brother Ram Prasad Gupta had filed a petition in the Bombay High Court alleging that the victim had been shot dead by a police team led by Sharma, who has 112 encounter killings of criminals including those belonging to the Chhota Rajan and Chhota Shakeel gangs to his credit.
The High Court had formed a special investigative team (SIT) headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police K M M Prasanna to investigate into the allegation. The SIT on January 8 arrested Sharma and the others for allegedly killing Lakhan in a fake encounter. PTI
