Photo indicates 3 bullets fired at Munna Bajrangi 15 minutes after his death, say experts

One of the two photographs of gangster Munna Bajrangi, which went viral on social media after he was shot dead inside Baghpat jail on July 9, indicates that three bullets were fired at him from point blank range about 15-20 minutes after his death, according to forensic experts.

They said both the photographs of Bajrangi’s body showed different number of bullet wounds. The police, however, refuted the claims and said the investigation would clear all the doubts.

Principal secretary, home and prisons, Arvind Kumar said on Tuesday that judicial and magisterial inquiries had been ordered into the incident “which would clear the air over the issue.”

“Detailed investigation and post mortem report will clear all doubts and apprehensions. Stern action will be taken against jail staff or any other person if lapses or involvement in crime came to light,” Kumar said. He, however, said the genuineness of the pictures would be looked into and it would also be probed as to how the photographs went viral and directed ADG (law and order) Anand Kumar to submit a report in this connection. UP DGP OP Singh said there was no lapse on part of the police force in providing security to Bajrangi. He said adequate security was provided to him while transferring him from Jhansi jail to Baghpat, and the transit time between the two locations was nearly 12 hours.

Meanwhile, Bajrangi was cremated at Manikarnika Ghat here on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, Bajrangi’s body reached his native place, Pure Dayal village in Jaunpur and was kept there for few hours as a large number of locals visited his place.

A forensic expert, earlier associated with the state forensic laboratory in Lucknow, said: “Blood will spill out if it is circulating in the body (if the person is alive). No bleeding will occur if a bullet is pumped into a dead body. Blackening seen around three wounds in the photographs suggests that bullets were fired from a close range after Bajrangi’s death.”

Another expert, who has been a part of investigations in many such cases, apprehended that available details and photographs suggest that the first photograph with less bullet wounds was clicked from a mobile phone after the gangster’s death. “However, the second photograph was apparently clicked after pumping three more bullets into the body around 15-20 minutes after the death. Blood circulation had stopped by that time,” he said.

Bajrangi’s lawyer Vikas Srivastava alleged that the difference in photographs hinted at the involvement of Baghpat jail personnel in the murder.

“The first photograph that got leaked from the jail suggests that the body had less bullet wounds while the second showed three more wounds on the body with blackening marks around it. Blood is not seen around these three wounds which suggests that these were post mortem injuries,” he said.

Chief medical officer, Baghpat, Dr Sushma Chandra said the post-mortem report had been sent to the district magistrate and the superintendent of police.

At least nine bullet wounds were found on the body, a senior police officer said. One of the bullets, he said, dates back to a 1998 encounter with the special task force (STF) in Delhi.

“The doctors found nine bullet wounds on the body of which three were on the skull. All the bullets were fired from a close distance which pierced through his body,” the officer, who did not wish to be named, said.

(With PTI inputs)