Cop’s custody extended in Gadoli fake encounter case

The chief metropolitan magistrate of Mumbai extended till July 19 police custody of Pradyumna Yadav, an accused in the Sandeep Gadoli fake encounter case.

While seeking custody, an officer of the Special Investigation Team probing the case told the court that two constables of Gurgaon police, who were part of the encounter and Gadoli’s girlfriend had been arrested recently. Their confrontation with Yadav was necessary for further investigation, the officer said.

Opposing the plea, Yadav’s lawyer said 11 days of custody has been granted as of now but the SIT has found nothing so far. A confrontation will reveal nothing, so further police custody need not be given, argued advocate Samsher Garud.

Mr Garud said that after the encounter Yadav and other police officers were in the Mumbai for 25 days. At that time all of them had submitted their weapons and recorded their statement before the MIDC police, he said.

However, the court accepted the prayer of the police and granted three days police custody of Yadav.

According to the police, Yadav is not co-operating with the investigation and has constantly avoided answering questions about the pistol and cartridges that were seized from the spots.

The police said one of the CCTV cameras installed in the hotel was damaged by the Gurgaon police. Another camera shows the accused pocketing the CCTV camera to destroy the evidence, they said. This CCTV camera is yet to be recovered from the accused, said the police in the remand application.

Gadoli, a gangster, was shot in hotel Airport Metro near the Mumbai Airport on February 7.