PATNA, June 27 -- Jagdishpur Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), aRajesh Sharma, who is an accused in the alleged encounter of Bilauti village young man Bharat Bhushan Tiwari, has a past record of involvement in encounters that created controversy, with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) calling some of them "fake". He made headlines for an encounter involving three youths in Muzaffarpur 19 years ago. However, CID officials gave him a clean chit, even as the case remains pending in the NHRC and the lower court, according to the family of one deceased in the incident. Rajesh Kumar Sharma, the then Sadar SHO, along with then Brahmpura SHO Amrendra Jha, then Sakra SHO Atnu Dutta and then Sariya SHO Akhilesh Kumar allegedly encountered three people, including a 17-year-old, near Muzaffarpur Institute of Technology (MIT) on November 4, 2007. However, Rajesh and the other SHOs were given a clean chit. But the mother of 17-year-old Manish Sharma killed in the encounter, awaits justice. At the same time, the NHRC had termed it as a 'fake encounter.' Manish's mother Anita Devi, a resident of Shivpuri Damchak under Kaji Mohammadpur police station, said that she has registered a complaint with the NHRC (Diary No-23739/CR/2008). "If senior police officers had not protected Rajesh Sharma at that time, Bharat Tiwari would have been alive today. We went to the police station for my son's post-mortem report but did not receive it till date. I was threatened with dire consequences. At the behest of the NHRC, we filed a complaint in the Muzaffarpur lower court where the case is still pending. There is no hearing, nor is the case dismissed that we approach the high court," said Devi, adding,"It's amazing. The killer is sitting on a SDPO chair. How does he get a promotion? Senior police officers save the sub-inspector and inspector who do wrong." The incident took place near MIT college under Brahmpura police station area of Muzaffarpur. The three youths killed were identified as Mukul Thakur, a resident of Lahladpur Patahi in Sadar police station area, Manish Sharma, a resident of Kazi Mohammadpur, and Subodh Kumar Singh, a resident of Dhankaul in Sheohar district. According to the police, the youths had opened fire at the police when they tried to stop their vehicle. The then DIG of Tirhut Range Arvind Pandey ordered a CID probe. However, all police personnel were given clean chit during the investigation. Meanwhile, the NHRC has expressed dissatisfaction over the report because there was a contradiction in statements of police officers and the driver of the police vehicle. Police personnel involved in the encounter had said that the three men had fired at the police while the driver told the investigators that cops chased and fired at them. The NHRC had then termed the encounter as fake and directed then Sadar SHO Rajesh Kumar Sharma and other police personnel to pay a compensation of Rs.5 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased. The then Muzaffarpur SP Ratna Sanjay had said, "The three got off their vehicle, ran and hid near MIT premises and started firing at police. In return, police opened fire and shot the three dead. They were identified as Mukul Thakur, (22) Manish Sharma (17) and Dara Singh (25) who were charged with cases of loot, extortion and attempt to murder in Muzaffarpur, Sheohar, Motihari and Guwahati. Manish was wanted for the murder of a dealer at Sheohar and was also involved in two murders in Guwahati under a changed name. Police recovered four firearms from them."...