A day after police claimed that notorious gangster Dinesh Adhikari ‘Chari’ was shot dead in an encounter, new leads began to emerge on Thursday, exposing police inconsistencies.

In parliament, CPN-UML lawmakers demanded investigation into the death of Chari, whose body was found with four bullet wounds in Bhimdhunga, 7 km south of Kathmandu.

Relatives of the dead have claimed that police killed him in a fake encounter. Chari’s supposed girlfriend Khusbu Oli, Miss Teen of 2006, told reporters on Wednesday that it was “revenge killing” from police inspector Kumud Dhungel. She said she repeatedly turned down the police officer’s attempt to court her.

“He [Chari] was online on Viber till the morning and changed his Viber picture twice,” said Oli, speaking to reporters at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) on Wednesday night.

But SSP Pushkar Karki, head of Metropolitan Police Crime Division, dismissed the allegations saying the police had responded in self-defence. He reiterated that the motorcycle-borne assailant had opened fire at the police.

Some have questioned the police narrative that Adhikari was shot in the chest while he was speeding away on a motorcycle, arguing that the bullets would have been lodged in his back in such a case. CPN-UML leaders claimed that Chari was caught in Kalanki. He was the UML’s Dhading district regional deputy chairperson.