Cops identify two more men killed in Tamil Nadu encounter

The joint effort of Chennai and Bihar police paid some more dividends when two more persons shot dead in the Chennai ‘encounter’ were identified.

Altogether, five ‘bank robbers’ were gunned down in the alleged ‘encounter’ in early hours at Velacherry in Chennai on Thursday last.

While one robber belonged to Bengal, the other four hailed from Bihar.

However, after initial inquiries, the Bihar police, out of four youths, could identify only one person - Vinay Prasad of Nalanda, who used to visit Chennai frequently. To their bafflement, the second person Chandrika Rai was ‘alive and kicking’ at Fatuha, while the remaining two – Harish and Vinod – did not exist.

But there was a twist in the tale on Monday when the police claimed that Sujay Rai (a murder accused in Bihar’s Fatuha) was using the voter I-card of Vinod Kumar, while Raju, alias Rajiv Yadav, was in possession of an I-card of one Harish Rai. Both Sujay and Rajiv were shot dead by Chennai police, but since they were in possession of stolen I-cards, there was some confusion over their true identity.

As a consequence, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had asked the Bihar DGP and Home Commissioner to find out details of the ‘encounter’. The National Human Rights Commission too had issued notices to the Director-General of Police of Tamil Nadu and Chennai District Collector seeking a detailed report about the ‘encounter’.

Meanwhile, the family members of Vinay Prasad have urged the Bihar Government to demand a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the ‘encounter’ as Vinay was innocent and had no criminal record.Even Nalanda SP Jitendra Rana had corroborated that Vinay was not a shady character.