Pradhan’s brothers,son ‘admit’ beating up DSP

They had claimed to have seen three of pradhan’s brothers,Suresh,who also died that night,Pawan and Sudhir,and his son beating up the DSP. But they had denied having seen anyone shoot him.

Phoolchand told the CBI his brothers and nephew were angry over the pradhan’s death and he had seen them running after the DSP as he tried to get away from the mob that had gathered in the village,sources said. Pawan and Sudhir initially denied they were present at the spot but changed their statement when confronted with the statements of their brother Phoolchand and the two witnesses.

Pawan and Sudhir told the CBI that when the DSP arrived to take away the slain pradhan’s body,the mob resisted and a scuffle ensured. Soon the mob was attacking the policemen. Outnumbered,they tried to run away. Pawan,Sudhir,Suresh and the pradhan’s son chased the DSP. He slipped and fell and they started beating him up,the sources said.

The pradhan’s son also reportedly gave the same sequence of events. However,he said he was not present at home when his father was shot dead. When he arrived,he saw his uncle Suresh engaged in a heated exchange with the policemen. Later,the cops were attacked and he accompanied Suresh in chasing and beating the DSP.

About Suresh’s murder,Pawan,Sudhir and the Pradhan’s son told the agency that they did not see how and by whom he was shot. He was last seen beating the DSP when they heard a gunshot and found Suresh had been hit by a bullet in his stomach. Before they could arrange a vehicle to take him to the hospital,police reinforcements arrived and they escaped from the place.

The sources also said the pradhan’s brothers and his son have so far denied having any information about firing at the DSP and his missing service pistol.

However,pradhan’s son and his brother Pawan have named some persons who could have taken away the DSP’s pistol. The CBI is searching for the weapon on the basis of these clues.