Mistaken identity: Man who was killed in Anandpal Singh’s village was a Rajput

Jaipur: In an embarrassing case of mistaken identity, the man who was killed in firing during a protest rally against the police encounter of Anandpal Singh at Sanvrad village of Nagaur district on July 12 was not Lalchand Sharma, but one Surendra Singh – a Rajput.

The police even gave ads in the newspapers appealing for the family members of Lalchand Sharma to show up and claim his body lying at SMS Hospital in Jaipur. But the family members saw his photo that went viral on WhatsApp and identified him as Surendra Singh . The police stepped up security in and around the hospital, fearing a law and order situation.

Surendra Singh was a resident of Malasar village of Churu district where Anandpal Singh was killed in a police encounter on July 24. Surendra had participated in a public meeting and protest rally organized against the police encounter of Anandpal Singh at Sanvrad village on July 12.

Surendra’sf ather Kalyan Singh, a retired army man, came to the SMS Hospital and identified the body on Monday.

A relative of Kalyan Singh stays in Jaipur. The relative received a photo of the man who was killed in Sanvrad on WhatsApp and thought that he was Surendra. He informed Kalyan Singh.

The father rushed to the local police station. He was told that before succumbing to bullet injuries, the man had identified himself as Lalchand Sharma, a resident of Haryana.

The local police brought the father to SMS Hospital where he identified the body.

Surendra worked at a private company in Beawar.

He had gone to Sanwrad on July 12 and since then his phone was switched. The family members, however, didn’t register any missing person report with the police.

Some Brahmin community organizations had registered their protest against the death of the man, believing him to be from the community.

Related story: Anandpal Singh encounter: Caste politics prevails over party loyalties in Rajasthan