MUMBAI, 25 December 2007 — The death of 17-year-old Imran Shaikh in a police encounter at Govandi recently by the Crime Branch has triggered anger in the Muslim community in Mumbai.
The community alleges that the police killed the innocent youth in a “fake encounter.” Some prominent leaders of the community have decided to take the issue to the Bombay High Court. The family of the deceased is not buying the police version that their son Imran was a member of a notorious gang led by Bunty Pandey.
For Irfan Shaikh, Imran’s father, he cannot just sit back and mourn the death of his son. “I have a mission ahead. I will prove that my boy was innocent and not a gangster as claimed by the police,” he said.
Irfan is determined to take this fight to its logical conclusion so that those guilty of cold-blooded murder of his son are punished and put behind bars.
“I will do whatever is possible to fight legal battles to clear Imran’s name and to ensure that the guilty is punished. In order to arrange for the legal fees, I have decided to sell my house. We will shift in a rented house in the same locality,” he said. He said that he had already met imminent criminal lawyer Majed Memon. “I’m confident that I will expose the high-handedness of the police with the help of my lawyer.”
