The issue of Ranbir Singh police encounter rocked the Uttarakhand assembly on the opening day of the budget session. The House had to be adjourned by the Speaker Harbans Kapoor for the day as the entire opposition did not allowing the proceedings either in the question hour or after that.

The moment the sitting of the House began, the opposition legislators jumped into the well of the house shouting slogans and demanding a discussion under Article 310 by suspending all other legislative work for the day.

Besides the Ranbir Singh encounter case, the opposition wanted a discussion on the Anshu Nautiyal murder case and the episode of 18 agitating employees of a Hospital Trust consuming poison in Haldwani last week. Anshu Nautiyal’s body had been recovered from a sack near the residence of Dehradun’s District Magistrate in May and the police had arrested a bookshop employee in the matter. After taking over as the new Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank has ordered a CID probe into the matter.

“We want that like Ranbir Singh encounter case, a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to be ordered into the murder of Anshu Nautiyal in which there is an attempt to cover up the real killers. Action must be taken against those senior police officers who tried to protect the accused in the Ranbir encounter case,” said leader of opposition Harak Singh Rawat.

The Congress legislators were also supported by the members of the BSP as well as the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) in seeking a discussion under Article 310. UKD is an ally of the BJP in the state assembly.

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