Even though the State Forensic Laboratory in Kalina (Mumbai) has sent a report to both the Pune rural police and state home department about the presence of a “mystery bullet” at the scene of the police firing on farmers in Maval in August, both the authorities seem to be at sea about the report.
The service revolvers, bullet remains and other samples were sent to the laboratory for ballistic fingerprinting. The forensic scientists had earlier visited the crime spot and studied the crime scene and spots from where the firing was done.
Sources in the forensic laboratory said, “All weapons and samples sent to us for ballistic analysis in the Maval firing case matched, except for a mystery bullet.’’
When contacted, additional home secretary Umeshchandra Sarangi told DNA,“We have not received any report. It might have been sent to the Pune rural police,’’ he said.
The Pune rural police are also claiming that they have not got any report from the laboratory. A senior police officer attached with the rural police told DNA, “We have not received any report so far from the laboratory.”
The one-man judicial committee formed to probe the Maval firing has also not received the forensic report, as affirmed by KD Patil, secretary of the panel.
This raises questions: the mystery bullet could have been fired by a police official but not sent for forensic analysis, or it may have been fired by farmers, or by a third party.
On August 9, three farmers were killed and seven sustained injuries when Pune rural police, led by then superintendent of police, Sandip Karnik, opened fire on protesting farmers on the Pune-Mumbai expressway.
The farmers were protesting against the Rs400-crore closed pipeline project initiated by the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation for drawing water from the Pavana river. Eight policemen were suspended in the case, while Karnik sought a transfer from the area.
The government recently decided to shelve the project.
(Inputs from Shahkar Abidi, DNA, Mumbai)
Comments