Shimla: While senior medical experts maintained that pellets recovered from the bodies of those injured primarily appeared to be from gun shots, district police officials heading the investigation have not even bothered to look up the weapons of the other security guards on duty on the day of the firing.
District police chief RM Sharma brushing aside questions on the subject said, “We cannot inspect anybody’s licensensed weapon.â€
On pointing out that there were other security people with guns at the place where unprovoked firing was resorted upon factory workers in Shoghi industrial area on Monday, Sharma rebuked it as, “we know our job, do what you like.â€
He, however, maintained that a forensic expert report about the recovered material from the bodies of the injured persons was awaited.
DGP Ashwani Kumar when contacted said, “linking the pellets recovered from the injured persons with the weapons used is part of the investigation, which is being done.â€
Rakesh Singha, state secretary CPI(M) who was one of the first to arrive at the spot after the firing took place said, “besides the weapons that the police seized from the arrested persons there were other people with weapons in the factory premises on that day. Logically any investigation should have seized all weapons that were there when the firing took place,†he said.
Among the eight persons arrested are people who were known to the workers as ‘shooters’. For regular security the industrial unit had engaged Group 4 Security services, revealed Singha.
Doctors who treated the injured persons maintained that the parts recovered from the scalp of one person and from body parts of the other three injured were pellets, which have been handed over to the investigating agencies. The one person who died in the firing appeared to have been hit by a bullet and not a cartridge, said the doctor.
While the police has arrested and slapped murder charges on the personal security personnel, Vijay Kumar Tripathi – general manager of Tigaksha Metallics (Supermax) as well as RK Mahlotra, owner of the unit but the five weapons seized happen to be licensed revolvers and pistols. Possibility of use of another weapon, which still needs to be recovered could punch holes in the police investigation.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
