Another relative, Arun Kumar, said Ranbir had received six bullets in the chest. “He would have received bullets in the back and other parts of his body if this was a genuine encounter. Ranbir’s father has served in the Army and knows the difference between a murder and an encounter,” Kumar said. “Six bullets in the chest means he was shot from front, that it was a staged encounter.”

Meanwhile, Neeraj Singh, son of BJP president and Ghaziabad MP Rajnath Singh, visited the family home in Indirapuram on Saturday morning and assured that an independent probe will be ordered. “I spoke with the Uttarakhand CM over the phone and he has assured that Dehradun police will not be involved in the investigations. He said it will be an independent probe,” Singh said.

In Dehradun, the opposition Congress also demanded a CBI probe. Party leaders said there are enough loopholes pointing towards a fake encounter.