Uttar Pradesh: Father questions son’s encounter by UP Police STF  

Just over a fortnight after the Supreme Court in slain gangster Vikas Dubey's case observed "don't resort to further encounters to eliminate dreaded gangsters", a father has questioned the Uttar Pradesh Police STF action after his son was killed in an encounter.

Baldutt Pandey, father of Hanuman Pandey, who was shot dead in an encounter in Lucknow on Sunday, has raised questions on the 'murder' of his son.

"My son had been acquitted in all cases and did not have any criminal case registered against him. Where was the need for an encounter? Besides, he was picked up by the STF from our house on Saturday night and shot dead on Sunday," he told reporters. This was after apex court's observation on Uttar Pradesh Police's modus operandi in the Dubey case was made on July 22.

Baldutt Pandey, a retired army personnel, said that his wife was ailing and undergoing treatment at the King George's Medical University (KGMU). "My son was taking care of my wife all this while. His encounter is something that the Yogi government should explain," he said.

SSP STF Sudhir Singh, meanwhile, said that five persons, including Hanuman Pandey, were trying to flee in an Innova. "We managed to corner Hanuman but four of his accomplices fled," he said.

Hanuman was shot by STF and taken to the hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.

Baldutt Pandey also said that he was unaware of the fact that his son carried a reward of Rs one lakh on his head.

Meanwhile, a petition is being filed by one Vishal Tiwari in the Supreme Court in which the petitioner is seeking an impartial judicial probe into the encounter.

Dubey and five of his aides were killed in encounters with Uttar Pradesh Police between July 3 and July 10, after the slain gangster and his men ambushed and killed eight policemen in Bikru village on the intervening night of July 2 and 3.