Family members and relatives of Ravi and Anjan Kumar, who were involved in a shooting incident with the police at a bar and restaurant at Mahalakshmi Layout, have claimed that the police opened fire without any warning.
They said Ravi, who himself is a bar owner, has a licenced pistol and he opened fire in the bar as around 15 men pounced on him.
“At 12:30 am, we tried reaching him on his mobile phone, but there was no response. Later, he managed to call his cousin Prashanth and his advocate-friend Girish Kumar. The family also searched in various police stations, and, around 5 am, we rushed to the hospital as he had messaged his advocate,” said Vasudev Rao, brother-in-law of Ravi.
Ravi’s wife Prathima stood firmly by her husband saying he would not have fired at the police and added that the family will collectively take the case forward and approach the State Human Rights Commission against ‘police highhandedness’.
Speaking to Express, his advocate Girish Kumar, said, “He messaged stating, ‘please come, I have been fired by police and I am hurt with one bullet in my leg and admitted to K C General Hospital’. I got this message at 3.07 am and we rushed there, but police did not allow us to meet him. Ravi comes from a respectable family. His father was in the Intelligence Bureau and he would never fire at police, come what may”, the advocate claimed.
Ravi’s friend Anjan Kumar (33), a resident of Lakshmidevi Nagar, was also injured in the firing. His wife Manuja said, “I had called him 56 times, but his phone rang only twice. I want to see him, but we are not being allowed,” she said.
DCP (west) S N Siddaramappa said the accused indeed fired at the police. “Around 11 pm on Tuesday, the accused went to the bar, picked a fight and fired at the bar staff. When police asked them to surrender, they fired at the police,” he said.
Additional Commissioner of Police Kamal Pant said, “If the relatives want to file a complaint in this regard, we will take it up seriously. ”