http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIL&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW&GZ=T
Lifer to 14 cops accused of fake encounter
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Lucknow: The Sonbhadra district sessions' fast track court (FTC) on
Monday slapped lifers on 14 policemen, including two sub-inspectors
and 12 constables, for committing cold-blooded double murder of two
college students and covering it up as encounter of two gangsters on
September 2, 2003.
The court order, according to the parents of the victims and NGOs,
which pursued the prosecution, has come as a testimony to their
allegations that police usually target innocents to bag awards and
medals.
While the court order left the accused cops, who were present
outside the court, virtually dumbfounded, dozens of locals who had
gathered outside the court room greeted the judgment with loud cheers.
The encounter in question took place in the jungles of Rantola in
Pipri police circle of Sonbhadra. Reports said towards the end of
2002, a number of robbery cases were reported from Pipri police
circles, which had led to widespread criticism of the police
inefficiency in the region.
II.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/five-policemen-get-life-term-fined-in-fake-encounter-case/563516/
Five policemen get life term, fined in fake encounter case
Express News Service
Posted: Jan 05, 2010 at 0407 hrs IST
Lucknow Five policemen, including a sub-inspector, were awarded life
sentence by a Sonbhadra district court on Monday for killing two
youths in a fake encounter in Rungtola forest in 2003. The court also
imposed fines ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh on them.
Of the 14 accused in the case, only five were present today.
Fast-track court judge Avinash Dwivedi pronounced the sentence of
those present, cancelled the bail of others and ordered their arrest.
Their sentence will be announced later.
“The court had fixed today for the verdict and the 14 policemen were
asked to appear before the court. But when the sentence was pronounced
only five of them were there,” said prosecuting officer (CB-CID) A K
Mishra.
Vikas Shakya, counsel for the complainant, said, “The court directed
the district police chief and the DGP to arrest the nine policemen and
produce them before the court. I have been informed they were present
in the court premises, but left after the judgment was pronounced.”
He said the court described the crime as a shameful act and observed
people lose faith in the police due to such acts.
The five policemen sentenced today were sub-inspector Rameshwar Ram,
constables Chandraika Yadav, Ravindra Maurya, KB Rai and Ashok Singh.
The other nine accused were sub-inspector Rajesh Kumar Singh,
constables Shiv Sagar Rai, Shiv Shankar Singh, R P Singh, Satish
Kumar, Dinesh, Pramod Kumar, Shajahan Khan and Rajesh Singh.
The case dates back to September 2, 2003, when the Sonbhadra police
claimed it had gunned down two members of a criminal gang, identified
as Prabhat Kumar Srivastava and Rama Shankar Shahu, both residents of
Jharkhand.
The police claimed it had cornered them following a tip-off that
members of a gang involved in a road hold-up, which took place the day
before, were meeting in the forest to divide the booty. A country-made
pistol, a single-barrel gun and jewllery were shown to have been
recovered from them.
After the incident, several organisations held protests, alleging it
was a fake encounter. Prabhat Kumar’s father Lallan Prasad, a retired
school teacher, approached top police officers and administrative
officials for investigation the case.
Following these, the state government asked CB-CID to investigate the
case. An FIR was lodged at the Pipri police station in Sonbhadra on
February 21, 2006. Later, 16 policemen, including four sub-inspectors,
were chargesheeted.
Fourteen of the accused surrendered before the court. Of them, 11
constables were released on bail and reinstated. Sub-inspectors
Kamleshwar Pratap Singh and Jai Nath Mishra never appeared before the
court and were declared absconders.
The investigation agency found that evidence which the cops had
produced was fabricated. Both men were picked up from a place near
Jharkhas railway station in Sonbhadra.
“Besides, the medical report showed that both men had been shot from a
close range while the FIR said there some distance between the
policemen and the gang members,” said Shakya.
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