Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaj has ordered a probe into the “encounter” deaths of two youths from Khagaria district in Mokama on Friday.

One of the victims, Raju Singh, was a close relative of Barharia JD(U) MLA Shyam Bahadur Singh. The police even seized the MLA’s SUV and illegal firearms from the encounter site.

Patna SP (rural) Hari Prasath S. said a second post-mortem was conducted on the bodies of Raju Singh and Amar Kumar at PMCH. The post-mortem was videographed unlike the first one. Raju’s father Ashok Singh, a former panchayat head, alleged that his son was killed in a staged encounter. The SP (rural) further said that those killed had criminal antecedents. Preliminary investigation suggests Raju was earlier booked in cases of murder, extortion and also under Arms Act. Raju’s associate Amar Kumar alias Raja, too, had a criminal case pending against him. Four country-made pistols, two revolvers, 60 live cartridges and a handcuff were recovered from the vehicle, said SSP Maharaj.

The SSP said that a patrolling police team noticed something suspicious about a Patna-bound black SUV and signalled its driver to stop. But the latter stepped on the gas instead. The police gave chase but the SUV’s occupants began indiscriminate firing. In the ensuing encounter, two occupants were killed while their three others fled under cover of darkness. MLA Shyam Bahadur Singh clarified he had given his vehicle to his son-in-law Rituraj Singh, currently in Khagaria jail in connection with a murder case.

“Raju, younger brother of Rituraj, was killed in a fake encounter,” he alleged and demanded a fair probe.