The mother of 19-year-old Karan Pandey, who was killed on Sunday when police opened fire during an attempt to stop a group of bikers from performing dangerous stunts, accused the police of highhandedness and demanded the death penalty for the guilty personnel.

Police had claimed that Karan was killed when a bullet fired by them in an attempt to puncture the tyre of the bike he was riding pillion hit him in his back.

Police had claimed that the group of about 150 bikers turned violent when they were asked to stop their dangerous motorcycle stunts. They started pelting stones injuring some policemen after which police fired in the air.

“They [police] don’t fire at terrorists and criminals. My son was not a thief or a dacoit. Police has wronged as they don’t have the right to kill a child,” said Karan’s mother Manju.

Questioning the police’s claim on the sequence of events, she claimed her son didn’t even know how to ride a motorbike and demanded a post-mortem be done by a five-doctor team.

“He didn’t indulge in drugs. If he was indulging in hooliganism or had misbehaved with them [police], they could have lathi charged or arrested him, but they shouldn’t have fired at him. He was my only son,” she said.

She said the reports about the other biker Punit Sharma being injured and admitted in hospital were false.

“Punit is neither injured nor admitted in the hospital. In fact, at 6.30 a.m., he had come with the cops accompanied by his father at our house. The cops told me that my son had an accident and asked me to go to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital with them,” said Ms. Manju.

She said that the cops took her to the hospital where they asked her about the names of Karan’s friend and informed her about his death due to an accident. She was then taken to the police station.